GEISEL  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 

LA  JOLLA,  CALIFORNIA 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  02828  4933 


BY  CHARLES  MULFORD  ROBINSON 


Modern  Civic  Art. 

The    City    Made    Beautifui,. 

Octavo.     Third  Revised   Edition. 

With   30   Full-page   Illustrations. 

Net,  $3.00  (By  mail,  $3.25) 

The  Improvement  of  Towns  and 
Cities;  or,  The  Practicai,  Basis 
OP  Civic  Esthetics.  Cr.  8vo. 
Eighth  Printing.  Fourth  Revised 
Edition. 

Net,  $1.25  (By  mail,  $1.35) 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF 
TOWNS  AND  CITIES 

OR 

THE  PRACTICAL  BASIS  OF  CIVIC 
^ESTHETICS 


BT 


Charles  Mulford  Robinson,  M.A. 

author  of  "  modern  civic  art  " 

"the  width  and  arrangement  of  streets" 

"  the  call  of  the  city  " 

ETC. 


Published  for  the 

BAY  VIEW  READING  CLUB 

Central  Office:   i6s  Boston  Boulevard 
DETROIT.   MICH. 

BY  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
New  York  London 


Copyright,  1501 

BY 

CHARLES  MULFORD  ROBINSON 


Eighth   Printing 


Ube  •ftnicftcrbocftcr  presa,  IRew  gorft 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FOURTH  EDITION' 


IN  preparing  a  fully  revised  edition  of  this  volume, 
twelve  years  after  its  first  publication,  there  is 
offered  a  perspective  in  which  several  interesting 
facts  stand  out.  Of  much  jjrominence  and  en- 
couragement is  the  progress  which  has  been  at- 
tained. On  page  after  page  it  has  been  necessary 
to  amplify  data  and  to  recast  the  statements  relating 
conditions  so  that  an  expression  of  hope  or  expecta- 
tion might  be  changed  into  a  chronicle  of  facts,  that 
what  were  described  as  experiments  might  be  trans- 
formed into  a  record  of  achieved  successes,  and  that 
isolated  instances  should  be  shown  as  now  significant 
of  a  trend  or  to  have  become  already  typical.  Al- 
though the  book  was  written  with  much  confidence 
in  the  awakening  of  a  popular  wish  for  city  and  town 
improvement,  it  was  not  realized  that  in  a  dozen 
years  so  much  progress  would  have  been  made. 

If,  as  some  have  kindly  suggested,  the  volume 
itself  has  had  a  share  in  causing  this  swift  advance, 
by  inciting  the  wish  and  showing  the  way,  the  author 
feels  well  repaid  for  the  research  that  went  into  its 
preparation  at  a  time  when  such  study  was,  to  say  the 
least,  unusual  and  difficult.  The  persistently  steady 
demand  which  the  book  has  since  enjoyed  justifies 
this  new  revision,  for  which  the  undisputed  posses- 
sion of  its  field  has  imposed  a  measure  of  obligation. 


iv  preface  to  tbe  ffouctb  JEDitlon 


Also,  the  twelve-year  perspective  reveals  a 
striking  development  of  the  community  viewpoint, 
in  the  broadened  grasp  of  the  popular  conception 
of  improvement  work.  This  has  expressed  itself 
particularly  in  the  public  approval  of  what  is  called 
town,  or  city,  planning — a  study  which  has  to  do 
primarily  with  the  street  system;  but  incidentally 
with  all  which  affects  that  system.  When  it  is 
realized  that  until  very  recently  cities  and  towns 
grew  a  street  at  a  time,  the  street's  location,  width, 
direction,  and  grade  determined  generally  by  neigh- 
borhood considerations  and  controlled  for  the  most 
part  by  the  inclination  of  only  an  individual  tract 
owner,  there  will  be  appreciation  of  the  long  for- 
ward step  which  has  been  taken  in  city  building 
when  experts  are  called  upon  to  study  the  needs  of 
the  town  as  a  whole  and  to  plan  the  main  lines  of 
its  extension  and  improvement.  This  work  has  now 
attained  to  the  dignity  of  a  profession,  taught  in  the 
colleges  and  having  in  all  countries  a  significant 
body  of  legislation  growing  about  it. 

In  a  later  volume  the  author  has  discussed  this 
phase  of  city  building.  It  is  enough  here  to  note 
its  development,  observing  that  the  work  which 
city  planning  does  for  better  towns  and  cities  can- 
not supersede  the  efforts  described  in  the  present 
book.  The  best  planned  city,  like  the  best  planned 
house,  must  be  still  taken  care  of,  kept  in  repair, 
and  kept  adjusted  to  changing  conditions  and  re- 
quirements, through  the  intelligent  interest  of  those 
who  live  in  it.  C.  M.  R. 

Rochester,  N.  Y., 
July  15,  1913- 


CONTENTS. 


A     Foundations  of  Civic  Beauty. 


PACE, 


I.    THE  SITE  OF  THE  CITY I 

Its  Influence — Treatment  of  Irregulari- 
ties of  Surface,  of  Water-front — Artificial- 
ity and  Naturalness. 

II.    THE   STREET  PLAN l8 

Pertinence  of  the  Consideration — Diag- 
onal, Gridiron,  and  Circular  Plans — Their 
Union — Application  in  Details— Placing 
of  Public  Buildings — Suburban  Territory 
—City  Planning — Street  Nomenciature. 

III.    THE   ELEMENTARY  CONSTRUCTION     .  34 

Bridges — Street  Paving  and  Cleaning — 
Street  Lighting. 

B     Beauty  in  the  Street, 

IV,  suppression  and  repression      .     .       55 

Burial  of  Wires — Dealing  with  the  Smoke 
Nuisance — Regulation  of  Buildings  with 
v4isthetic  Purpose — Scrutiny  of  Street 
Traffic — Noise — The  .A.lliance  of  Hygiene 
and  /Esthetics. 


n 


Contents 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

V.    THE  ADVERTISEMENT  PROBLEM      .       .  76 

Censure  of  Advertisements  on  Esthetic 
Grounds— Work  of  "  Scapa"  in  England 
and  the  Control  Exercised  in  Continental 
Cities — Encouraging  Beauty  for  Signs  in 
Belgium  —  Undeveloped  Possibilities  — 
Posters. 

VI.    MAKING  UTILITIES  BEAUTIFUL       .       .  94 

Incentives  to  Artistic  House-fronts — 
Efforts  in  Belgium  and  Paris  for  "  Art 
dan£  la  Rue  " — Municipal  Art  Societies  in 
the  United  States— Color  on  Streets. 

VII.  THE  tree's  IMPORTANCE  ,  .  .  .  IT3 
Rise  of  Esteem  for  Trees  in  Cities — Two 
Views  as  to  Their  Proper  Ownership — 
Paris  and  American  Cities — Activity  by 
Village-Improvement  and  Tree-Planting 
Societies— The  Tree's  Sanitary  Import- 
ance. 

VIII.    POSSIBILITIES  OF  GARDENING    .       .       .       132 

/^i(s  in  Urbe — "  Parking  "  in  Business  and 
Residence  Sections — Gardens,  Vines,  and 
Boxes — Corporation  Grounds. 

C   Esthetic  Phase  of  Social  and  Phil- 
anthropic Effort 

IX.  parks  and  drives 152 

Esthetic  Function  of  Parks — Growth  of 
the  Demand  for  Them — Individual  Be- 
neficence— Associated  I  nterest  —  Speed- 
ways, Beauty-Drives,  Park  Approaches. 

X.    "  squares"   AND  playgrounds       .       172 
Primary    Purpose   of   City    "Squares" — 
Formalism  an  Appropriate  Treatment — 


Contents  Tii 


CHAPTER.  PACE. 

Suggestions  for  Treating    Playgrounds — 
Their  Prominence  and  Popularity — School- 
Yard  Decoration. 

XI.    ARCHITECTURAL  DEVELOPMENT    .       .       1 86 
Cities  Popularly  Judged  by  Their  Build- 
ings—  The     Rise    of    Luxury  —  Interior 
Adornment  of  Old  Structures  with  Mural 
Paintings. 

XII.    ARCHITECTURAL  OBLIGATIONS      .       .       200 

Protection  of  Ancient  Architecture — The 
Choice  of  Building  Sites — Picturesqueness 
for  the  Slums — Street  Erections. 

D  u^sTHETic  Phase  of  Educational  Effort. 

XIII.  function  and  placing  of  sculp- 
ture   216 

Sculpture  Necessarily  Educational — In- 
struction in  Morals,  Civics,  and  History 
— Necessity  of  an  Art  Ideal — Suggestions 
for  Placing  City  Sculpture — A  Definite 
System. 

XIV.    POPULAR  education  IN  ART         .       .       237 
Its  Relation  to  Civic  .Esthetics — Art  Edu- 
cational Conditions  in  American  Cities — 
English  City  Schools  and  Galleries — Place 
of  Municipal  Art. 

E  Means  to  Secure  Civic  ^Esthetics. 

XV.    WORK     OF     individuals     AND    SOCI- 
ETIES   253 

Recognition  of  Art's  Nearness  to  Life — 
The  Local  and  General  Associations — 
Local  and  National  Societies  of  Art — Co- 
operation, Common  Sense,  Vigilance. 


■nil 

CHAPTER. 

XVI. 


Contents 


PAGE. 


271 


WORK  OF  OFFICIALS 

Two  Views  of  Municipal  Art  :  (a)  A  Na- 
tural Product  of  Town  Development — 
Responsible  Officials  Form  Societies — (b) 
A  Luxury  Delegated  to  Separate  Com- 
missions— The  Proposal  for  a  National 
Art  Commission — Theory  of  Paris  as  a 
Medium  Course. 

Conclusion 285 

Appendix 295 

Addenda 299 


Index 


303 


pjs^fe 


FOREWORD 

A  WHOLE  volume  might  be  written  on  the  sub- 
ject of  any  one  of  the  chapters  here  given. 
In  several  of  the  cases  there  is  a  shelfful  of  books 
on  the  matter  of  a  single  chapter — as  on  the  paving 
of  streets,  or  a  large  volume  on  a  single  thought  or 
phase  of  a  chapter,  as  on  Trees  in  Paris.  The 
purpose  of  this  book,  then,  is  not  exhaustive  dis- 
cussion. It  does  not  pretend  to  say  all  that  can  be 
said  of  the  work  for  beauty  in  cities  and  villages; 
but  reviewing  the  whole  broad  field  of  the  modern 
effort,  it  tries  to  pick  out  the  salient  points,  to  de- 
clare the  best  that  has  been  done  along  every  line, 
and  how  and  when  and  where  it  was  done  —  en- 
couraging by  showing  the  progress  attainable  be- 
cause somewhere  attained.  So  it  would  supplement 
with  constructive  criticism  that  which  heretofore 
has  been  so  largely  destructive. 

But  it  has  other  practical  purpose  even  than  this. 
It  would  be  not  only  a  handbook  for  ready  refer- 
ence, for  suggestion,  and  for  incentive  along  each 
special  line  of  the  work  for  beauty.  It  would  sho\r 
the  co-ordination  of  the  efforts,  the  dependence  of 
each  upon  all  the  others,  in  order  to  secure  a  logi- 

ix 


JoreworD 


cal,  harmonious  result;  the  place  and  duty  of  each 
regiment  of  fighters  in  the  battle  for  urban  beauty, 
and  would  be  a  reminder  that  none  fights  alone. 
There  is  no  one  panacea  for  the  ugliness,  dreari- 
ness, or  monotony  of  towns  and  cities;  there  is  no 
one  road  to  victory.  There  must  be  parallel  con- 
quests by  highway  and  by  footpath,  by  field  and 
wood,  by  hill  and  dale.  There  is  work  enough  for 
all  and  a  place  for  each. 

The  specialist,  seeing  much  in  little,  does  not 
see  far.  In  zeal  for  pavements  one  forgets  the 
trees;  in  zeal  for  parks  the  thoroughfare  is  for- 
gotten. It  has  seemed  well,  then,  in  the  great  new 
awakening  of  enthusiasm  and  concern  for  city 
beauty  in  a  score  of  directions,  at  last  to  grasp 
them  all,  to  group  them  logically  in  a  single  volume 
and  show  the  relative  positions.  This  wish  deter- 
mined the  underlying  syllabus  on  which,  as  indi- 
cated in  the  Table  of  Contents,  the  book  has  been 
built  up. 

It  would  have  been  impossible  to  indite  such  a 
volume  in  the  seclusion  of  one's  study.  There 
must  have  been  far  and  studious  travel.  And 
the  author  acknowledges  his  obligation  for  sugges- 
tions, for  encouragement,  and  for  cordial  aid  to 
many  active  workers,  men  and  women,  in  East  and 
West.  Of  many  nations,  several  languages,  and 
many  specialties,  all  proved  themselves  one  brother- 
hood in  the  joyous  and  earnest  new  crusade  for 
beauty  of  town  and  city.  Theirs  is  a  mighty 
army,  "marching  as  to  war,"  in  crusade  against 
the   ugly   and   debased.      They   make   Aristotle's 


jforeworD 


definition  of  the  city  their  own  —  a  place  "  where 
men  live  a  common  life  for  a  noble  end." 

In  citing  by  name  the  many  societies  which  have 
done  some  definite  thing  to  improve  a  community's 
appearance,  the  design  has  been  to  enable  any 
worker  or  student  to  write,  if  he  desires,  to  the 
original  source  for  the  complete  details.  Usually 
these  will  be  given  readily,  both  as  to  operations 
and  results,  and  so  no  experience  need  go  for 
naught.  How  widespread  the  examples  are,  how 
m.ighty  is  the  present  movement  for  civic  renais- 
sance, is  indicated  by  the  following  partial  list  of 
organizations  whose  work,  in  one  way  or  another, 
has  here  a  mention:  American  Institute  of  Archi- 
tects, American  Park  and  Outdoor  Art  Association, 
American  Society  of  Landscape  Architects,  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Municipal  Improvements,  Archi- 
tectural Club  of  Chicago,  Architectural  Club  of 
Milwaukee,  Architectural  Club  of  Pittsburg, 
Architectural  League  of  America,  Architectural 
League  of  New  York,  Art  Association  of  San 
Francisco,  Art  Federation  of  Philadelphia,  Art  for 
Schools  Association  of  London,  Association  for 
the  Protection  of  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York;  Asso- 
ciated Improvement  Association  of  Oakland,  Cal. ; 
Boston  Common  Society,  Boston  Society  of  Archi- 
tects, Brooklyn  Woman's  Club,  Business  Men's 
Club  of  Cincinnati,  Camera  Club  of  Albany,  N. 
Y. ;  Charity  Organization  Society  of  New  York, 
Chicago  Woman's  Club,  Children's  Playground 
Association  of  Baltimore,  Citizens'  Association  of 
Chicago,  City  and  Suburban  Homes  Company  of 


xii  jforewoiD 


New  York,  City  Branch  of  Fairmont  Park  Art  Asso- 
ciation of  Philadelphia,  City  Improvement  Society 
of  Denver,  City  Improvement  Society  of  New  York, 
City  of  Hamilton  (Canada)  Improvement  Society, 
Cockburn  Association  of  Edinburgh,  Coal  Smoke 
Abatement  Society  of  London,  Commercial  Club 
of  Indianapolis,  Commons  and  Footpaths  Preserva- 
tion Society  of  London,  Civic  Center  of  Wash- 
ington, Civic  Club  of  Hartford,  Civic  Club  of 
Philadelphia,  Civic  Federation  of  Chicago,  Culture 
Extension  League  of  Philadelphia,  Fairmount  Park 
Art  Association  of  Philadelphia,  Fine  Arts  Federa- 
tion of  New  York,  Fine  Arts  Union  of  Washington, 
Forestry  Association  of  Buffalo,  General  Federa- 
tion of  Women's  Clubs,  Genesee  Valley  Forestry 
Association  of  Rochester,  Guild  of  Civic  Art  of  To- 
ronto, Hill  Improvement  League  of  Brooklyn,  Jud- 
son  Avenue  Improvement  Association  of  Evanston, 
111. ;  Juvenile  Street  Cleaning  Leagues  (general), 
Kyrle  Society  of  London,  Laurel  Hili  Associa- 
tion of  Stockbridge,  Mass. ;  League  of  American 
Municipalities,  Logan  Avenue  Improvement  Asso- 
ciation of  Denver,  Maryland  Historical  Society, 
Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society,  Merchants' 
Association  of  San  Francisco,  Metropolitan  Public 
Gardens  Association  of  London,  Minneapolis  Im- 
provement League,  Municipal  Art  League  of 
Chicago,  Municipal  Art  Society  of  Baltimore, 
Municipal  Art  Society  of  Cincinnati,  Municipal 
Art  Society  of  Cleveland,  Municipal  Art  Society 
of  New  York,  Municipal  Improvement  Association 
of  New  Orleans,  National  Arts  Club  of  New  York, 


IForcworO  xiii 


National  Sculpture  Society,  National  Society  of 
Mural  Painters,  National  Society  for  the  Protection 
of  Sites  and  Monuments,  Belgium;  New  York 
County  Medical  Society,  CEuvre  Nationale  Beige, 
Outdoor  Recreation  League  of  New  York,  Oak 
Park  Improvement  Society  of  Chicago,  Park  Me- 
morial Tree  Association  of  Indianapolis,  Public 
Art  League,  Public  Green  Association  of  New 
Haven,  Reform  Club  of  New  York,  Royal  Institute 
of  British  Architects,  London;  Smoke  Abatement 
Society  of  New  York,  Social  Settlements  (general), 
Society  for  Checking  Abuses  of  Public  Advertising, 
England;  Society  for  Improving  the  Condition  of 
the  Poor,  New  York;  Society  for  the  Protection  of 
Ancient  Buildings,  London;  State  Federations 
of  Women's  Clubs  (general),  State  Leagues  of 
Municipalities  in  California,  Connecticut,  Florida, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Kansas,  Michigan,  Ohio,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Wisconsin;  Thames  Preservation 
League,  London;  Tree  Planters'  Society  of  Kansas 
City,  Tree  Planting  and  Fountain  Society  of  Brook- 
lyn, Tree  Planting  Society  of  New  York,  Twentieth 
Avenue  Improvement  Association  of  Denver, 
Twentieth  Century  Club  of  Boston,  United  Women 
of  Maryland,  Universities  of  California,  Columbia, 
Harvard,  Pennsylvania,  and  Yale,  and  American 
School  of  Architecture  at  Rome;  Village  Improve- 
ment Societies  (various).  Vine  Planting  Society  of 
New  York,  West  End  Improvement  Association  of 
Rochester,  Woman's  Club  of  Denver,  Woman's 
Industrial  and  Educational  Union  of  Rochester. 
Among  the  official  bodies  which  also  are  men- 


jforeworD 


tioned  are:  Art  Institute,  Chicago;  City  Loan  Ex- 
hibition, London;  City  Music  Commission,  Boston; 
City  Park  Commissions  (various),  City  Tree  Com- 
missions (various).  Committee  for  the  Survey  and 
Registration  of  the  Old  Memorials  of  Greater  Lon- 
don, Commission  du  Vieux  Paris,  Commission  de 
Decoration  de  1' Hotel  de  Ville,  Paris;  Corporation 
Art  Gallery  of  Glasgow,  London  County  Council, 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New  York;  Metro- 
politan Park  Commission,  Boston;  Municipal  Art 
Galleries  (various  English  cities), Municipal  Schools 
of  Art  (Birmingham  and  Manchester,  England), 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts  of  Boston,  National  Art  Com- 
mission (proposed  for  United  States),  New  York 
Street  Commission,  Royal  Commission  of  Monu- 
ments, Belgium;  and  Municipal  Art  Commissions. 

May,   1901 


POSTSCRIPT 

Numerous  as  are  the  names  given  above,  they  do 
not  now  cover  the  organised  activity  in  behalf  of 
the  aesthetic  phase  of  town  life.  Such,  in  fact,  has 
been  the  progress  of  the  movement  since  this  book 
was  written,  that  a  careful  estimate  at  the  end  of 
1906  put  the  number  of  these  organisations  in  the 
United  States  alone  at  not  less  than  two  thou- 
sand. That  the  years  have  brought  changes  as  well 
as  additions  is  natural,  but  the  list  as  printed  con- 
tains the  names  specifically  mentioned  in  the  text. 
The  reader  who  desires  to  learn  further  of  the  work 
should  secure  names  and  addresses  corrected  to  date 
from  one  of  the  general  societies,  as  the  American 
Civic  Association  (  Vd.  pg.  300),  or  from  the  author, 
who  will  be  glad  to  help  as  far  as  he  can. 

The  movement's  rapid  progress  has  also  invited 
notes  describing  further  developments,  and  these 
have  been  collected  at  the  end  of  the  volume,  pp. 
299-301.  If  a  pertinent  topic  is  not  found  in  the 
index,  it  should  be  sought  in  these  addenda. 

C.  M.  R. 

February,  1907. 


XV 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  TOWNS 
AND  CITIES 


THE  IMPROVEMENT 
OF  TOWNS  AND  CITIES 


CHAPTER   I 


THE    SITE    OF    THE    CITY 


THE  site  is  a  primary  consideration  in  the  con- 
struction of  a  beautiful  city  or  village.     There 
is,  however,  this  to  be  noted  about  it.     Of  itself, 
it  can  neither  secure  nor  prohibit  city  beauty.     A 
dozen  cities  make  some  pretence  of  splendor  with- 
out the  slightest  regard  for  the  natural  features  of 
their  site,  and  a  hundred  are  plain  or  ugly  when,  on 
such  a  site,  they  might  have  been  rendered  splendid. 
Vienna  lies  in  a  vast  plain,  its  stateliness  inde- 
pendent of  any  natural  advantages;  Brussels  owes 
almost  none  of  its  attractiveness  to  the  conditions 
of  the  site  it  occupies;  Washington  has  grown  in 
the  opposite   direction    from   that   which  was   de- 
signed, and    made,  when    this    book    was  written, 
scant  use  of  the  broad  sweep  of  the  Potomac.    Lon- 
don, on  the  other  hand,  is  notoriously  lacking  as  a 


■ffmpi'ovement  ot  Zowns  an^  Cities 


whole  in  beauty,  though  the  position  of  a  large  part 
of  the  city  is  not  without  potential  magnificence  on 
the  slowly  rising  eminence  to  the  north  of  the  river; 
and  lower  New  York,  with  rare  beauty  of  site,  has 
let  years  pass  without  worthily  availing  itself  of  the 
aesthetic  possibilities  of  its  water-front.  Only  now 
and  then,  as  in  the  picturesqueness  of  Edinburgh, 
the  impractical  poetry  of  Venice,  the  panorama  of 
the  Golden  Horn,  or  the  regal  possibilities  of  River- 
side Heights,  New  York,  does  topography  stamp 
its  character  on  a  neighborhood  so  insistently  that 
the  city  must  have  beauty  in  spite  of  itself. 

If  the  task  that  lies  before  men  to-day  were  only 
the  construction  of  a  beautiful  city  from  the  very 
beginning;  if  we  could  plot  it  first  on  paper,  and 
its  problems  were  only  those  of  engineering,  it  were 
easy  to  assure  for  it  magnificence  by  the  choice  of 
site.  But  a  dozen  considerations,  of  which  beauty 
is  the  last  —  when  admitted  at  all  —  determine  a 
city's  position,  and  to-day,  even  in  the  United 
States,  the  problem  is  not  to  choose  a  site  but  to 
make  the  most  of  that  now  occupied.  So  it  is 
something  to  know  that  the  site,  primary  considera- 
tion as  it  must  always  be  in  a  study  of  city  beauty, 
may  or  may  not  have  in  itself  a  fair  degree  of 
beauty  without  prejudicing  the  appearance  of  the 
city;  that  a  well-planned  city  may  attain  attrac- 
tiveness and  even  splendor  without  its  aid;  and 
that,  again,  a  good  position  can  be  so  ignored  in 
the  urban  plan  that  the  appearance  of  the  city  may 
be  entirely  unbenefited  by  it.  Obviously,  the 
examples  should  give  many  suggestions,  and  from 


Cbe  Site  of  tbc  Cits  3 

their   illustration    villages   as  well   as    towns   may 
profit. 

In  a  review  of  the  world's  principal  cities,  far 
the  greater  number  will  be  observed  to  be  situated 
on  uneven  ground  and  at  the  side  of  water.  In  a 
consideration  of  site,  the  possession  of  a  water-front 
may  be  taken  for  granted  almost  with  the  confidence 
of  an  inequality  in  surface.  Indeed,  the  economic 
demands  of  traffic  are  of  such  insistence  that  un- 
evenness  tends  to  obliteration  so  far  as  the  surface 
irregularities  are  small,  while  the  water-frontage  is 
exaggerated. 

With  castle-fortress  on  its  rock  of  greatest  eleva- 
tion, old  Edinburgh  fairly  typifies  the  plan  of 
those  mediaeval  cities  which  were  born  of  feudal- 
ism. It  often  happens  that  a  church  shared  the 
height  and  sometimes  it  alone  remains,  or,  as  in 
the  case  of  Notre  Dame  de  la  Garde  of  Marseilles, 
and  in  many  another  city  —  back  to  the  temples 
that  were  on  the  Acropolis  at  Athens  —  these 
heights  are  singly  dedicated  to  religious  worship. 
In  Rome  the  Pincian  Hill  is  crowned  by  a  public 
garden;  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  the  great  East 
Rock  is  a  park;  in  Montreal  the  mountain  is  thus 
made  use  of;  and  in  the  old  city  of  Avignon  one 
finds,  to-day,  church  and  castle  on  the  dominating 
hill  and  then,  a  few  steps  higher,  on  the  very  sum- 
mit, a  park.  The  attitude  thus  widely  illustrated, 
that  the  highest  point  of  a  city  should  be  used  for 
public  purpose,-  for  defence,  or  worship,  or  recrea- 
tion, seems  well  assumed. 


Umprovemcnt  of  IIcwiis  anD  Clttes 


It  is  not  often  that  buildings  for  the  public  busi- 
ness of  a  modern  city  can  be  placed  on  the  domi- 
nating height  without  disadvantage,  except  from 
the  aesthetic  point  of  view  —  though  the  capitol  in 
Washington  and  many  State  capitols  are  so  placed 
with  us,  and  Brussels  has  planted  the  new  Palais 
de  Justice  on  a  height.  But  we  may  reaffirm  the 
original  principle,  practical  in  the  park  at  least, 
that  to  the  eminence  whence  the  city  may  be  mas- 
tered at  a  glance,  and  where  its  noise  and  turmoil 
may  be  left  behind,  all  the  people  should  have 
access.  And  no  more  certainly  for  the  view  thence 
than  for  the  view  thither,  as  the  height  commands 
and  lords  the  town,  should  it,  in  the  perfect  city, 
be  held  by  the  community  rather  than  by  indi- 
viduals. This  is  the  great  lesson  in  the  treatment 
of  inequalities  of  surface. 

In  the  course  of  years  the  sheet  of  water,  which 
has  ceased  to  be  a  necessity  to  the  commercial  or 
industrial  prosperity  of  a  community,  like  the 
height  which  is  no  more  needed  for  defence,  may 
become  a  community's  luxury.  It  will  then  be 
treated  as  such,  as  in  the  case  of  "  the  Lake-front  " 
at  Chicago,  or  the  Victoria  Embankment  on  the 
Thames;  but  it  must  be  long  before  this  common 
feature  of  urban  topography  will  become  simply  an 
aesthetic  problem.  With  the  seaports  some,  at  least, 
of  the  water-front  must  be  the  mart  of  commerce, 
and  industry  must  yet  find  cheap  power  in  city 
streams.  Therefore  the  treatment  of  the  water- 
front, that  a  city  may  derive  the  greatest  artistic 
advantage  from  this  element  in  the  natural  features 


XLbe  Site  of  tbc  Cite  5 

of  its  site,  is  a  complicated  question.  It  is  to  be 
determined  with  reference  to  the  use  of  the  water 
by  the  community,  whether  it  be  mainly  for  (i) 
power;  (2)  navigation;  or  (3)  picturesqueness.  In 
different  parts  of  the  same  city  a  stream  of  water 
may  be  put  to  each  of  these  uses.  The  aesthetic 
problem  then  becomes,  practically,  that  of  three 
communities. 

In  the  first  case,  where  the  city  has  been  located 
upon  a  stream  for  the  sake  of  the  water-power,  we 
have  to  look  for  very  little  in  the  way  of  artistic 
development  along  the  water-front.  The  best  that 
can  be  said  is  that  the  industrial  structures  will 
tend  to  screen  from  view  the  polluted  stream,  and 
that  the  town,  if  it  draws  most  of  its  energy  from 
this  source,  is  likely  to  be  of  no  great  size.  Here- 
tofore the  usual  treatment  has  consisted  in  the  con- 
struction of  a  race  on  one  or  both  sides  of  the 
river,  and  parallel  to  it,  with  the  factories  located 
between  the  race  and  the  natural  stream,  and  shut- 
ting the  latter  out  from  view  except  as  bridges  dis- 
close it.  The  factories,  turning  a  blind  side  to  the 
river,  naturally  make  no  pretence  to  beauty  or 
adornment  on  that  facade,  and  the  view  up  or 
down  the  stream  as  it  tumbles  and  tosses  through 
the  brick  canon  is  dismal  in  the  extreme.  In  such 
a  case  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  water-front,  as  far 
as  it  lies  in  the  industrial  portion  of  the  town,  adds 
anything  to  the  beauty  of  the  site;  and  perhaps  the 
plan  adopted  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  where  the  main 
street  is  carried  over  the  river  on  a  bridge  built  up 


Ifmprovement  of  (Towns  anD  Cities 


en  either  side  with  business  structures  (like  old 
London  Bridge,  with  never  a  hint  that  it  spans  the 
river),  is  as  good  as  another.  Certainly  it  has  the 
negative  virtue  of  preventing  an  intrusive  interrup- 
tion by  the  purely  industrial  and  hideous.  Now 
and  then,  to  be  sure,  even  an  industrial  water-front 
can  afford  a  certain  weird  picturesqueness  of  view 
on  a  dark  afternoon,  when  the  myriad  lights  twinkle 
from  the  factory  windows,  the  buildings  silhouette 
themselves  in  irregular  masses  against  the  sky,  and 
the  dark  water  is  only  a  sound  below.  But  any 
such  charm,  purely  urban  as  it  is,  is  accidental  and 
fleeting. 

It  is  possible  that  the  dawn  of  an  electrical  age 
may  relieve  the  city  builder  from  the  unhappy  sac- 
rifice of  the  water  view  in  an  industrial  commu- 
nity. The  stream  that,  by  rapid  current  or  fall, 
offers  such  power  as  to  invite  the  location  of  a  city 
must  in  its  natural  condition  have  considerable 
beauty.  It  were  well  indeed  for  a  town  if,  in  the 
very  midst  of  artificiality  and  restraint,  such  a 
picture  could  be  preserved  of  the  freedom  and 
wildness  of  nature.  The  most  conspicuous  and 
promising  example  of  what  this  new  mode  of  "  har- 
nessing "  a  river  for  the  use  of  its  power  at  a  dis- 
tance may  mean  is  afforded  in  the  case  of  Niagara 
Falls.  A  mile  above  the  falls,  and  well  in  from 
the  river  bank,  a  great  manufacturing  community 
is  now  arising,  while  —  through  the  intervention  of 
the  State  government,  as  it  happens  in  that  partic- 
ular instance  —  the  scenery  above  and  near  the 
cataract  is  preserved  in  the  grandeur  of  primitive 


^be  Site  of  tbe  Cits  7 

conditions.  Tlie  transmission  of  electrical  power 
is  already  so  successful  that  Niagara  is  driving 
profitably  a  thousand  manufactories,  of  which  not 
one  is  even  in  sight  from  the  river.  For  practical 
discussion,  then,  the  problem  of  treating  the  borders 
of  a  power  stream  may  pass  into  the  class  in  which 
beauty  is  the  sole  end.  Its  water-front  would  be- 
come a  leading,  instead  of  an  ignored,  element  in 
the  picturesqueness  of  a  city's  site. 

When  commerce  has  located  a  city  upon  a  body 
of  water  whose  navigable  quality  determines  its  use 
as  a  highway,  the  ideal  treatment  of  the  water-front 
is  extended  into  a  whole  group  of  problems.  From 
the  extremes  of  a  palace  on  a  Venetian  canal  to 
the  floating  piers  of  a  tidal  seaport  there  is  too  long 
a  way  to  make  one  rule  applicable,  for  the  painted 
posts  that  hold  light  gondolas  so  easily  would  break 
off  short  with  the  strain  of  an  ocean  liner  in  the 
current.  One  broad  distinction  may  well  be  drawn 
at  the  start.  We  may  ask  ourselves  whether  the 
sheet  of  water  is  the  proper  approach  and  entrance 
to  the  city,  as  in  the  case  of  a  harbor;  or  whether 
it  is  merely  a  public  highway.  If  it  be  the  first,  it 
may  suitably  demand  a  dignity,  grandeur,  and 
largeness  of  treatment  which  were  out  of  place  in 
the  second.  Perhaps  there  is  no  cause  for  the  fail- 
ure in  the  treatment  of  water-fronts  so  common  as 
a  disregard  of  this  first  distinction. 

The  lower  and  upper  bays  of  New  York,  treated 
properly,  make  the  sail  up  the  harbor  exceptionally 
fine.      The    colossal    Statue    of    Liberty,    with    its 


■ffrnprovcmcnt  of  Covvns  auD  Gtttes 


welcome  at  the  very  gates  of  the  hospitable  city,  is 
so  excellent  in  spirit  that  not  until  the  stranger  has 
actually  landed,  and  stepped  into  the  meanness 
and  squalor  of  West  Street,  does  disappointed  sur- 
prise come  upon  him.  If  it  were  possible  for  the 
entrance  to  be  made  at  the  Battery,  how  different 
the  impression  would  be!  Picture  the  progress  out 
of  the  limitless  ocean  into  the  hill-circled  lower 
bay,  through  the  fort-crowned  narrows,  into  the 
upper  bay  with  its  dominating  goddess  of  classic 
stamp,  and  on,  slowly,  through  the  swarm  of  ship- 
ping, toward  the  sun-swept  towers  and  spires, 
rising  high,  and  almost  grandly  as  set  off  by  the 
greensward  at  their  feet.  Picture  landing  there, 
the  tall  buildings,  sentinel  portals  of  the  city, 
standing  just  across  the  green,  while  between  them 
the  great  artery  of  the  city  pierces,  lined  with 
wealth  and  choked  with  traffic,  to  lead  straight  on, 
mile  after  mile,  through  the  city's  maze.  That 
were  a  worthy  and  impressive  approach,  to  which 
the  slums  of  West  Street  offer  sad  contrast. 

The  actual  problem  is  complicated,  because  West 
Street  is  not  merely  portal  but  border  to  a  long 
waterway.  The  clothing  of  convenience  with  dig- 
nity which  Genoa  has  secured  in  the  treatment  of 
its  water-front  is  not  easy  here,  nor  is  the  unity 
which  comes  from  concentration  at  Marseilles. 
Liverpool,  in  its  docks  along  the  Mersey,  long 
wrestled  with  the  same  problem  as  unsuccessfully  as 
New  York,  while  Antwerp,  also  dealing  with  it, 
has  been  bolder  and  slightly  more  fortunate  in  re- 
sult.    New  York  is  conscious,  at  any  rate,  that  it 


Zbe  Site  or  tbc  Cit»  9 

has  failed.  It  encouragingly  perceives  that  the 
North  and  East  rivers  ought  not  to  be  treated  by 
the  municipality  as  mere  country  streams,  but  as 
arms  of  the  harbor. 

In  the  season  of  1S98-99,  the  Architectural 
League  made  "  New  York's  Water-Front  and  Its 
Future  Embellishment  "  the  subject  of  discussion 
at  one  of  its  monthly  dinners,  and  various  schemes 
of  more  or  less  practicability  and  interest  were  un- 
folded. The  point  of  the  matter  was  that  better 
things  can  be  done  and  should  be  done.  On  the 
map.  West  Street  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide 
from  the  west  front  of  the  houses  on  the  east  side 
of  the  street  to  the  established  bulkhead  line,  and 
beyond  that  the  piers  stretch  out  five  hundred  to 
nine  hundred  feet  further.  There  is  opportunity 
here  for  one  of  the  most  beautiful  water-fronts  in 
the  world,  but  the  realization  is  a  marginal  street 
worthy  of  a  frontier  town  and  so  incumbered  with 
storehouses,  ferry-houses,  sheds,  piles  of  merchan- 
dise, etc.,  as  in  places  to  be  less  than  seventy  feet 
wide  and  unsightly  beyond  description.  In  the 
fall  of  1899  Mr.  Coler,  the  comptroller  of  New 
York,  came  out  with  a  plea  for  the  abolition  of  the 
provisions  of  the  municipal  debt  limit  so  far  as 
they  apply  to  bonds  issued  for  public  works,  such 
as  docks,  that  yield  a  revenue  and  in  time  pay  for 
themselves.  There  are  reasons  that  may  justify 
dread  of  such  removal  in  the  case  of  New  York; 
but  it  is  clear  that,  should  a  municipality  do  this, 
the  city  would  be  in  a  position  to  treat  its  water- 
front far  more  worthily  than  most  American  seaports 


lo  Umprovement  of  tlown^i  ant)  Cittcs 


ever  have.  With  New  York,  for  instance,  a 
dream  of  restoring  to  the  marginal  street  its  theo- 
retical width  by  the  removal  of  all  obstructions, 
and  then  the  erection  of  perhaps  continuous,  and 
certainly  harmonious,  buildings  for  the  needs  of 
commerce,  with  a  possible  use  of  the  second  story 
by  freight  tracks  and  an  esplanade  atop  of  all 
whence  to  view  the  ever  animated  scene  and  get 
the  summer  breezes,  would  cease  to  be  as  visionary 
as  at  present.  The  plan  can  be  made  to  look  as 
interestingly  feasible  financially  as  from  an  engi- 
neering point  of  view,  and  obviously  the  aesthetic 
advance  would  be  very  great.'  Its  example  would 
be  the  more  valuable,  also,  because  in  principle  so 
widely  applicable,  the  problem  rising  in  many  places. 
Thus  Philadelphia  has  faced  an  ideal  treatment  of 
the  Delaware  River  front.  This  would  carry  the 
traffic  from  the  docks  and  warehouses  to  Market 
Street  by  an  underground  system,  while  Water 
Street  could  extend  to  the  bulkheads  at  its  own 
level.  It  may,  in  fact,  be  said  in  general  that  rail- 
road tracks  are  better  depressed  than  raised  — 
aesthetically,  since  they  detract  from  beauty  or 
splendor;  practically,  since  the  water-front  street 
is  usually  at  a  lower  level  than  others. 

With   the  water-frontage   of   bisecting  streams, 

'  Addresses  at  the  November  dinner  of  the  Architectural 
League,  New  York,  1898.  It  may  be  added  that  for  com- 
mercial purposes  the  city  is  now  undertaking  improved  treat- 
ment of  the  water-front.  For  more  than  half  a  mile  below 
Twenty-third  Street  it  is  building  a  granite  sea-wall,  with  a 
marginal  street  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide. 


XLbc  Site  of  tbe  Cite  n 


cities  —  when  making  any  pretence  of  adequate 
treatment  —  usually  do  much  better.  The  com- 
mercial element  in  the  problem  is  less  exactingly 
exclusive,  long  as  Boston  has  discussed  the  im- 
provement of  the  Charles,'  and  there  is  needed 
rather  a  sincere  resolve  to  improve  than  a  discov- 
ery of  means.  Examples  are  many  and  interesting. 
Perhaps  the  most  brilliant  of  the  better  known  is 
found  in  the  splendid  (juays  and  marble  bridges  of 
the  Seine,  at  Paris.  On  either  side,  throughout  its 
city  course,  the  river  is  lined  with  imposing  walls 
of  masonry.  Large  stone  platforms,  connected 
with  the  street  at  intervals  by  steps  and  inclined 
roadways,  serve  the  needs  of  commerce  ;  and 
above,  the  quays,  bordered  on  the  river  side  by  a 
handsome  coping,  afford  a  favorite  promenade. 
The  lead  of  Paris  has  been  followed  in  the  last  few 
years  by  similar  treatment  of  the  Danube  at  P>uda- 
pest,  and  of  the  Tiber  in  the  reconstructed  Rome; 
but  long  ago  a  like  treatment  of  river-fronts  had 
been  illustrated  by  Pisa  and  Florence,  for  instance, 
on  the  Arno.  The  well-known  Victoria  Embank- 
ment of  the  Thames,  in  London,  is  a  modification 
of  the  plan,  considerably  more  elaborate,  and  cost- 
lier in  space  and  money.  The  Embankment's 
generous  width,  the  conversion  of  some  of  the  re- 
claimed land  into  gardens,  and  the  planting  of 
rows  of  trees  along  its  sides  give  to  it  a  park-like 
appearance  that  bestows  an  almost  holiday  char- 
acter on  the  skirting  river,  while  here  again  the 
demands  of  navigation  are  satisfied  by  openings  in 
the  wall  where  stairs  lead  to  floating  piers.  On  the 
'  yd.  note,  pg.  299. 


12  Umprovcment  of  Clowns  aiiD  Cities 


Embankment  itself  there  are  two  sidewalks  and 
a  broad  carriage-way. 

But  even  this  scheme  can  be  hardly  called  com- 
plete until,  beyond  the  splendid  esplanade,  there 
rise  palatial  structures  worthily  to  frame,  to  close 
with  dignity,  the  artificial  scene.  The  Victoria 
Embankment  is  at  its  best  where  Somerset  House 
defines  its  limit;  new  government  buildings  are 
adding  stateliness  to  Rome's  embankment  of  the 
Tiber;  and  the  Seine  has  nowhere  such  urban 
majesty  as  where  the  Bourbon  palace  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies  rises  on  one  side,  on  the  Quai 
d'Orsay,  while  directly  opposite,  across  the  broad 
Place  de  la  Concorde,  stands  the  Ministry  of 
Marine. 

The  latter  structure's  considerable  remoteness 
from  the  river  is  a  suggestion  of  the  value  of  vista 
in  water-front  treatment.  Where,  as  usual,  the 
land  rises  slowly  from  the  shore,  an  excellent  op- 
portunity is  afforded  for  such  views  by  the  plotting, 
at  intervals,  of  a  broad  street,  or  square,  at  right 
angles  to  the  river,  and  terminating  at  the  summit 
in  a  monumental  structure  which,  in  its  turn,  thus 
secures  an  imposing  setting.  Of  this  no  better 
conception  can  be  given  than  is  afforded  by  a  pro- 
posal that  a  broad  new  street  which  should  con- 
nect Holborn  with  the  Strand,  in  London,  be  ex- 
tended at  the  one  end  to  the  Victoria  Embankment 
and  at  the  other  cut  through  to  the  British  Museum, 
which  should  crown  the  height. 

It  is  to  be  understood,  of  course,  that  such 
clearly  artificial  treatment  of  a  river-front,  however 


^be  Site  of  tbc  Citg  13 


imposing  the  result  of  such  plans  as  these  may  be,' 
must  ever  lack  the  charm  of  nature's  gentler  lines 
and  fringing  vegetation  and  is  pardonable  only  as 
an  urban  necessity.  The  whole  of  the  area  now 
comprising  the  Victoria  Embankment,  for  example, 
was  formerly  covered  twice  a  day  by  the  tide. 

If  it  is  possible,  as  it  sometimes  is,  to  skirt  part 
of  the  river  on  either  bank  with  a  park,  so  that 
even  in  the  city  there  may  be  preserved,  in  sem- 

'  Their  union  is  well  illustrated  in  the  immense  work  re- 
cently undertaken  in  Budapest,  where,  by  the  energy  of  a 
mixed  committee  representing  the  national  and  city  govern- 
ments, the  river  was  constituted  the  centre  of  activity,  the 
municipality's  prime  thoroughfare,  chief  open  space,  and 
place  of  resort.  A  description  of  the  work  is  concisely  given 
by  Dr.  Albert  Shaw  in  his  Municipal  Government  in  Con- 
tinental Europe.  He  says:  "Magnificent  stone  quays  and 
retaining-walls  were  built,  extending  for  nearly  three  miles  on 
the  Pest  side  and  also  for  a  long  distance  on  the  opposite 
shore.  These  were  thrown  well  out,  the  broad  channel  being 
thus  compressed  somewhat  to  secure  a  clean,  sweeping  cur- 
rent. Up  and  down  along  the  broad  promenades  facing  the 
water  have  been  erected  palatial  buildings.  The  quays  are 
high,  and  stairs,  built  continuously  for  a  long  distance,  lead 
down  to  the  lower  level  of  the  landings,  upon  which  the 
heavy  traffic  is  confined.  The  rows  of  buildings  are  broken 
at  intervals  by  open  park  spaces,  in  which  are  effectively 
placed  the  statues  of  various  Hungarian  notabilities.  A 
number  of  handsome  public  buildings  are  included  in  the  row 
upon  the  quays  on  the  left  bank,  and  toward  the  upper  end 
of  the  row  has  been  built  the  magnificent  new  Parliament 
house.  Farther  down  are  the  National  Academy,  the  city's 
so-called  '  Redoute  building,'  the  old  Rathhaus  (city  hall),  the 
vast  new  custom-house,  and  various  other  establishments." 
Here  a  more  distant  part  of  the  quay  is  made  a  shady  prome- 
nade where  driving  is  prohibited. 


14  IFmprovcnient  of  ^owns  anO  dttles 


blance  at  least,  nature's  softer  treatment,  the  solu- 
tion is  happier.'  But  most  commonly  the  necessity 
that  determines  a  city's  location  on  the  sides  of  a 
navigable  stream  causes  it  to  be  built  up  closely  to 
the  water's  edge;  and  the  dreamer  of  fairer  cities 
has  to  choose  between  huddled  huts,  sheds,  and 
crowded  warehouses,  or  the  clear-cut  lines  of  solid 
masonry.  Picture,  for  example,  the  strides  in 
civic  dignity  and  beauty  which  any  city  on  the 
majestic  Hudson  would  take  with  nobler  treatment 
of  its  river-front.  Imagine  State  Street,  in  Albany, 
with  the  State  capitol  at  its  head,  if  it  were  cut 
through  to  the  river  with  a  suitable  termination^;  or 
viewing  the  panorama  from  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's 
in  Rome,  imagine  the  piazza  of  that  church  when 
extended  to  the  Tiber,  and  the  new  glory  that  will 
come  to  the  edifice. 

In  some  of  the  Dutch  cities,  most  conspicuously 
in  Amsterdam,  there  is  a  repose  and  quiet  stateli- 
ness  in  the  handling  of  the  canal  problem  which 
should  have  a  suggestion  for  the  small  city  traversed 

*  In  the  Report  of  the  Metropolitan  Park  Commission  of 
Boston,  in  igoo,  the  board  declared  that  its  acquirements, 
when  added  to  the  holdings  of  the  local  boards  of  Cambridge, 
Waltham,  Newton,  etc.,  were  sufficient  to  reserve  to  the  pub- 
lic the  control  of  nearly  all  the  river  bank  of  the  Charles, 
Neponset,  and  Mystic  rivers  within  the  district.  "It  has 
been  the  policy  of  the  board,"  the  Report  added,  "  to  omit 
from  these  takings  important  manufacturing  establishments 
and  lands  likely  to  be  required  for  wharves  or  other  purposes 
essential  to  the  business  convenience  of  the  community." 
The  policy  which  has  there  been  so  successful  should  convey 
a  practical  hint. 

^In  1912  this  improvement  was  commenced. 


^be  Sfte  of  tbe  Cits  15 


by  a  river  comparable  in  even  flow,  in  placidity, 
and  narrowness  to  the  canals  of  Holland.  There 
is  no  need  of  so  formal  and  elaborate  a  treatment 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Seine  and  Thames  where  they 
pass  through  Paris  and  London.  A  wall,  that  may 
be  of  brick,  embanks  the  canal ;  and  on  each  side 
there  is  a  broad  street,  with  overhanging  trees,  and 
built  up  only  on  the  side  opposite  to  the  canal. 
So  the  houses  look  at  one  another  across  the  width 
of  walk,  canal,  and  walk;  and  the  town  seems  to 
step  back  from  the  stream  which,  taking  its  way 
through  field  and  meadow,  has  caught,  and  still 
holds — through  the  ample  space  the  city  yet  affords 
it — the  country's  witching  aroma  of  restfulness. 

One  hypothesis  remains:  the  city,  or  that  pare 
of  it,  placed  by  sea  or  lake  or  stream  with  only 
picturesqueness  to  be  considered;  the  community 
favored  by  "  a  beautiful  situation,"  in  which  the 
problem  is  not  complicated  by  demands  of  indus- 
try or  commerce.  There  is  little  to  be  said  here. 
Appreciation  of  the  prospect  will  suggest  that  it  be 
preserved,  unmarred,  free  to  all  the  people  as  far 
as  may  be,  like  the  view  from  the  imagined  domi- 
nating hill.  As  a  result  the  park  or  promenade  is  the 
simplest  and  happiest  device.  Because  a  beautiful 
view  is  apt  to  move  individuals  before  the  commu- 
nity as  a  whole  is  moved,  it  sometimes  happens,  as 
on  the  cliff  at  Newport  for  examjile,  that  such  a 
site  is  early  pre-empted  by  private  owners.  But 
even  so,  the  community  need  not  despair.  As  Chi- 
cago retains  her  strip  of  lake-front  park  before  the 


i6  ■ffmpropement  or  iiovvns  m\D  cttfes 


houses  of  the  wealthy,  as  New  York  her  Riverside 
Diive,  and  as,  again,  in  Cleveland  and  Duluth,  an 
individual  may  be  moved  by  public  spirit  to  donate 
such  land  to  all  the  people  for  a  park,  so  in  one 
way  or  another — in  a  last  resort  by  purchase, 
as  around  the  falls  of  Niagara — it  is  possible  as 
well  as  right  for  the  community  to  secure  the  van- 
tage point.  Now  and  then,  as  with  Fort  Porter 
at  Buffalo,  and  in  many  an  old-world  city,  the 
problem  is  simplified  because  the  government  holds 
the  position  for  defence,  and  allows  the  people  to 
enjoy  it. 

No  part  of  the  discussion  of  civic  aesthetics  is 
more  difficult  in  theory  than  this  fitting  adjustment 
of  cities  to  their  sites.  Here  naturalness  and  arti- 
ficiality are  directly  opposed.  The  very  consider- 
ations which  determine  a  city's  location  are  based 
on  utilizing  its  natural  features,  while  the  influence 
of  the  aesthetic  ideal  is  largely  thrown  toward  pre- 
serving nature  and  subordinating  utility  to  beauty. 

In  the  building  laws,  in  the  planning  of  streets, 
it  is  possible  to  aim  at  the  ideal;  but  in  adjust- 
ment to  site  this  best  course  is,  in  the  main, 
debarred.  Yet  it  is  something  to  recognize  what 
that  "  best  "  may  be,  and  to  learn  that  even  in  cir- 
cumscribed areas  the  city  may  secure  at  least  a 
semblance  of  nature  by  dedication  of  the  site's 
best  features  to  park  purposes.  After  that  let  us 
learn  that,  if  a  building  must  occupy  the  crowning 
eminence,  the  structure  should  be  one  of  public 
character,  large,  substantial,  white,   and  pure;  as 


TTbe  Site  of  tbe  Cltg  17 


becomes  a  vision  half  of  heaven  and  half  of  earth, 
with  detached  columns  and  perhaps  sculptured  fig- 
ures standing  clear  against  the  sky.  So  rose  the 
Acropolis  over  Athens,  and  the  opposing  temples 
of  Jupiter  and  Juno  on  the  twin  heights  of  the 
Capitoline  hill  over  the  Rome  of  the  Emperors. 
It  is  no  dream.  A  dozen  niodern  structures  carry 
out  the  idea.  Build  them  of  dark  material  and 
they  must  glower  heavily  over  the  city;  build  them 
of  light  material,  in  chaste  design,  and  their  beauty 
is  not  incongruous  in  the  ugliest  industrial  city. 
For  we  are  learning  to  conquer  smoke,  and  we  see 
them  only  when  we  look  up;  when  whatever  sordid- 
ness  yet  clings  to  the  town  is  left  behind.  There 
must  be  nothing  of  the  earth  earthy  in  the  structure 
that  then  meets  our  eyes. 

And  finally,  we  learn  that  if  commerce  must  rule 
on  the  city  water-front,  it  were  better  that  the 
shore  line  be  made  richly  urban  than  allowed  to 
become  degraded  nature. 


CHAPTER   II 


THE   STREET    PLAN 


WE  shall  not  attain  to  cities  and  villages  that 
are  beautiful  until  we  learn  artistically  to 
plan  them.  Transformations  may  help  us  greatly, 
as  London  and  Paris  and  some  examples  at  home 
show;  but  a  mended  article  is  never  as  good  as  one 
well  made  at  first.  The  problem  in  our  cities  is 
mainly,  to  be  sure,  one  of  mending,  but  even  yet 
it  is  not  wholly  so.  A  newspaper  in  New  York, 
referring  to  local  conditions,  has  had  occasion  to 
say  in  protest ' :  "  The  opportunity  lies  before  us, 
ample  and  inviting,  and  wholly  ignored.  The  site 
of  a  future  city  north  of  the  Harlem  offers  a  field 
for  improvement  more  magnificent  than  that  for 
which  Nero  destroyed  imperial  Rome.  With  a 
Haussmann  or  a  L'Enfant  in  our  three  millions  of 
population,  the  ideal  city,  the  city  beautiful  and 
perfect,  would  at  least  be  suggested,  but  what  are 
we  doing  with  it?  We  are  plodding  along  on  vil- 
lage lines,  with  village  methods,  marring  with 
patchwork  improvements  that  disfigure,  ignoring 
all  teachings  of  the  past,  unconscious  of  all  the 

*  The  condition  has  since  been  greatly  bettered. 
18 


Zbe  Street  flMan  19 


possibilities  of  the  future.  We  are  laying  out  the 
new  districts  of  the  Greater  New  York,  not  as  the 
ideal  city  nor  the  city  beautiful,  nor  even  as  a  city 
of  common  sense.  We  are  merely  permitting  it  to 
grow  up  under  the  stimulus  of  private  greed  and  of 
real  estate  speculation." 

Notice  of  a  city  plan,  then,  is  still  pertinent,  still 
practical.  The  decisions  can  be  set  aside  as  com- 
posing an  ideal  to  be  kept  before  us  in  the  mend- 
ing, or  they  can  be  used  for  an  actual  working  plan 
in  the  plotting  of  new  areas.  The  natural  features 
of  a  site  do  not,  as  we  have  seen,  assure  a  city's 
character;  and  so,  with  the  principles  set  forth  in 
the  last  chapter  in  mind  for  use  on  the  occasions 
that  they  fit,  we  may  set  about  consideration  of  the 
street  plan  little  hampered  by  the  definite  pecu- 
liarities of  any  site —  save  that  the  village,  with  its 
shorter  streets,  will  be  mindful  of  the  vistas.  The 
ideal  for  all  urban  conditions  has  not,  indeed,  been 
discovered;  but  from  an  examination  of  effects 
actually  secured  in  different  cities,  we  should  at 
least  attain  to  underlying  principles. 

Significantly  enough,  we  must  make  our  search 
among  modern  cities;  or  in  the  modernized  parts 
of  the  ancient  cities.  Except  for  Piraeus,  which, 
as  the  seaport  of  Athens,  was  laid  out  by  Athenian 
engineers,  the  street  plan  was  rarely  treated  with 
artistic  regard,  large  outlook,  and  firm  grasp  in  the 
cities  of  ancient  or  mediceval  times.  Blind,  narrow, 
and  tortuous  streets  were  the  rule  in  them,  relieved 
now  and  then  by  splendid  temple  or  palace,  and 
noble  squares.     Still,  the  cities  made  much  of  their 


so  •ffinprovcmcnt  of  Clowns  aiiD  Cities 


sites,  Piraeus  had  a  rich  and  rarely  beautiful 
water-frontage,  and  Athens  and  Rome  adequately 
crowned  their  heights;  while  it  has  remained  for 
the  heavy  traffic  of  modern  times,  and  for  new 
principles  in  sanitation  and  philanthropy,  to  insist 
upon  street  reforms.  Out  of  that  insistence  has 
grown  the  comparatively  recent  hope  of  one  har- 
monious and  appropriate  street  plan. 

In  Washington,  Philadelphia,  and  a  portion  of 
Manhattan  Island  we  have  conspicuous  and  very 
convenient  examples  of  a  systematic  attempt  at 
strictly  city  plotting,  made  in  advance  of  actual 
building.  To  the  genius  of  L'Enfant,  influenced 
as  he  no  doubt  was  by  recent  transformations  in 
Paris,  is  due  that  large  part  of  its  beauty  which  the 
city  of  Washington  owes  to  its  having  possessed  at 
the  start  an  artistic  plan.  This  plan  was  so  com- 
plete and  generous  that  it  continued  to  prohibit 
haphazard  growth,  A  beautiful  site  was  given  to 
him,  and  L'Enfant  drew  plans  commensurate  to 
the  importance  of  a  great  nation's  capital.  They 
were  subsequently  changed  somewhat  and  the  im- 
petus of  city  extension  was  not  in  the  direction  he 
anticipated,  yet  Washington  still  has,  it  is  said, 
through  the  liberality  of  his  design,  a  proportion- 
ately larger  area  devoted  to  streets,  avenues,  and 
parks  than  any  other  city  in  the  world.  The  dis- 
tinction of  the  plan,  aside  from  the  prominence  it 
lends  to  the  capitol,  is  its  free  use  of  diagonal,  arter- 
ial avenues.  Wrenn,  futilely  plotting  new  streets  for 
fire-swept  London,  had  endorsed  these  principles. 

Some  ten  years  after  the  plan  of  Washington  had 


Zbc  Street  plan  21 


been  determined  upon  and  mapped,  the  New  York 
Street  Commission  was  called  into  being.  Its 
effort  was  "  the  first  deliberate  attempt  "  to  pro- 
vide for  New  York's  expansion.  Though  De  Witt 
Clinton  was  a  member  of  this  commission,  though 
it  faced  a  task  of  inspiring  opportunity,  and  had 
the  plan  of  the  new  city  of  Washington  as  an  ex- 
ample, after  due  deliberation  it  gave  the  weight  of 
its  authority  to  the  perfectly  regular,  or  "  grid- 
iron," system  yet  visible  at  and  above  Fourteenth 
Street.  The  best  that  can  be  said  for  the  commis- 
sion is  that  it  probably  allowed  itself  to  be  too 
much  influenced  by  the  limitations  of  a  long  and 
narrow  island,  and  that,  in  reaction  from  the  con- 
fusion of  the  lower  city  and  of  Boston,  it  attached 
too  much  importance  to  simplicity,  as  this  had 
been  illustrated  byPenn's  engineers  at  Philadelphia, 

The  events  throw  two  leading  plans  for  cities 
into  sharp  contrast.  On  the  one  hand,  the  grid- 
iron plan  offers  the  maximum  area  for  building 
sites  and  a  regularity  of  almost  childish  simplicity; 
on  the  other,  the  diagonal  avenues  afford  economy 
of  communication,  vistas  of  much  possible  beauty, 
and  open  squares  and  spaces  that  are  grateful  to 
the  eye  and  of  no  little  sanitary  value.  The  weight 
of  esthetic  consideration  is  overwhelmingly  in 
favor  of  what  may  be  called  the  Washington,  as 
distinguished  from  the  Philadelphia,  or  New  York, 
plan.  Sanitation  recommends  it;  and  so  does  con- 
venience, since  it  is  no  slight  matter  that  on  a 
checker-board  plotting  the  traveller,  to  reach  any 


22  Umprovemcnt  of  ^owns  anD  Cities 


destination  not  on  his  own  street,  must  traverse  two 
sides  of  a  right-angled  triangle. 

But  the  New  York  Street  Commissioners  decided 
to  leave  upper  Broadway  and  the  Bowery  as  they 
were,  the  turnpike  being  already  of  some  import- 
ance, and  their  gridiron  plan  was  thus  modified 
by  a  diagonal  thoroughfare  which  offers  contrasts 
very  convenient.  Imagine  what  it  would  have  cost 
to  create  Union  Square  and  Madison  Square,  were 
the  area  built  up  to-day  as  is  the  adjacent  territory; 
and  if  the  advantage  of  having  these  squares  is  not 
sufficiently  obvious,  let  it  be  recalled  that  it  was 
lately  thought  necessary  to  pass  a  law  authorizing 
the  city  to  expend  a  million  dollars  a  year  to  create 
such  spaces  where  all  is  now  dreary  monotony. 
So  the  commissioners'  single  concession  to  irregu- 
larity is  proved  financially  as  well  as  aesthetically 
worth  while. 

There  is  a  third  plan  for  city  streets  that  circum- 
stances have  made  very  popular  in  Europe  and  that 
has  much  to  recommend  it.  This  is  the  ring,  or  con- 
centric, plan.  Its  most  distinguished  exemplar  is 
Vienna,  with  the  famous  Ring-strasse  within  and 
Gurtel-strasse  (girdle  street)  without.  The  former 
not  only  contains  the  public  buildings,  which  in  the 
aggregate  give  to  it  an  air  of  splendor,  but  it  con- 
tains the  leading  houses  of  business  and  amuse- 
ment. Enclosed  by  it  is  the  small  area  of  the  old 
town,  the  network  of  highways  and  byways  striking 
the  Ring-strasse  at  forty  points;  without,  extend 
fifteen  main  radials.  The  street  railways,  coming 
in  by  these,  centre  their  operations  on  the  Ring, 


Ubc  Street  jMan  23 


circling  along  its  length  until  each  passenger  has 
been  left  at  the  point  nearest  his  destination. 
Thus  the  Ring-strasse  has  been  likened  to  a  great 
receiving  and  distributing  reservoir;  but  it  has  also 
a  majesty  that  has  lately  rendered  Vienna  famous. 
It  resembles  an  enormous  circular  stage  devised 
for  the  spectacularly  scenic  entrance  and  exit  of 
the  Viennese  throng.  Good  types,  too,  of  this 
plan  are  the  circles  of  "inner"  and  "outer" 
boulevards  in  Paris,  and  these  illustrate  well  the 
debt  to  its  ancient  fortifications  of  a  city  that  has 
been  "  modernized  "  by  this  means.  For  it  is  their 
destruction,  and  the  use  for  boulevards  of  the 
encircling  strip  of  public  territory  which  has  been 
thus  secured,  that  gives  to  this  system  much  of 
its  European  vogue.  We  often  see  it  adopted, 
however,  in  the  United  States,  where,  as  in  Boston 
and  Chicago  for  example,  parks  and  boulevards 
are  planned  to  form  a  circle  of  beauty  around  the 
city. 

The  briefest  consideration  of  these  three  plans 
suggests  that  perhaps  the  best  results  could  be  ob- 
tained from  their  combination.  If  it  did  nothing 
else  it  would  offer  variety  while  yet  avoiding  con- 
fusion. And  civic  aesthetics  dread  the  flaunting  of 
systematic  exactness  and  regularity  in  the  street 
plan.  The  combination  of  plans  is  already  ac- 
cepted, practically,  as  the  ideal  by  German  munici- 
palities, and  Milan  and  Vienna  are  notable  examples 
of  it. 

Imagine  a  central  point,  a  plaza — as  with  happy 
effect  in  many  an  old-world  city  —  or  the  green  or 


24  Umpropement  of  ^owns  anO  Cities 


common  of  a  village.  It  is  a  grouping  spot  for  the 
public  buildings,  or  it  may  be  a  strongly  distin- 
guished natural  feature  of  the  site,  perhaps  an 
eminence,  and  occasionally  even  the  water-front. 
To  this,  numerous  diagonal  streets  of  primary  im- 
portance would  focus,  so  cutting  irregularly  a  net- 
work of  — not  oblong  blocks,  as  in  New  York,  but 
even  squares  with  access  to  the  rear  of  the  houses.' 
And  around  the  outside,  or  at  various  periods, 
place  circling  parkways,  or  boulevards — like  those, 
for  instance,  of  Brussels  —  whence  the  diagonal 
streets  may  radiate.  The  result  is  a  wheel,  super- 
imposed on  a  checker-board.  The  hub  is  the  true 
heart  of  the  town;  the  spokes  are  arterial  thor- 
oughfares, receiving  the  heaviest  traffic  because 
they  are  the  most  direct  lines  of  communication. 
The  rim,  or  rims,  are  boulevards  and  parkways, 
affording  convenient  means  for  belt-line  inter- 
course. Incidentally,  the  vista  of  every  street  is 
broken  at  intervals,  for  very  long  street  perspec- 
tives without  substantial  termini  are  not  things  to 
be  desired.  Unless  there  be  plainly  visible  an  emi- 
nence, or  an  architectural  or  sculptural  mass,  at 
the  end  of  the  street,  distance  becomes  only  weari- 
some. 

The  practical  merits  of  this  plan  are  well  illus- 
trated in  Vienna,  where  the  daily  distribution  of 
population  is  said  to  take  place  more  easily  than 

'  This  plan  of  even  squares  has  been  carefully  developed, 
as  applicable  to  New  York,  by  Julius  F.  Harder,  and  is  set 
forth,  with  diagram  and  full  explanation  of  advantages,  in 
Municipal  Affairs,  March,  1898. 


Zbe  Street  plan  25 


in  any  other  large  city.'  But  from  the  artistic 
standpoint  only,  we  have  here,  first,  the  dominat- 
ing central  point  (of  site  or  business)  putting  a 
stamp  upon  the  city  and  giving  to  it  that  distinct- 
ness that  so  many  urban  communities  lack.  Upon 
this  is  laid  all  the  emphasis  that  street  arrangement 
can  give.  Then,  in  the  junction  of  diagonal  streets 
with  the  parallelogram's  regularity,  we  have  at  hand 
the  appropriate  sites  for  adornment  with  fountains, 
statues,  and  little  parks.  The  problem  has  not 
been  solved  as  if  it  were  that  of  an  exposition.  It 
is  a  simple,  practical,  and  systematic  ground-plan 
available  for  busy  city  or  for  quiet  village.  Towns 
already  under  way  may,  indeed,  require  modifica- 
tions of  it;  and  a  site  like  Manhattan  Island  may 
render  the  whole  impractical;  but  it  is  helpful  to 
have  clearly  in  view  a  general,  ideal  scheme  and 
its  advantages. 

In  the  treatment  of  details  these  principles  will 
be  serviceable.  Indianapolis,  with  several  diag- 
onal streets  focussing  toward  a  center,  has  been 
called  a  well-planned  city  for  America,  where  most 
cities  have  grown  from  villages  whose  one  distinc- 
tive feature  is  a  broad  main  street,  long  and 
straight,  and  absorbing  all  the  business.  The 
Washington  Arch  in  New  York  would  sink  into  in- 
significance compared  with  the  Arc  de  Triomphe 
in  Paris,  were  the  question  only  one  of  situation. 
For  the  latter,   on   its  eminence,   is  renamed  the 

'  Another  interesting,  because  distinctly  philanthropic,  use 
of  this  plan  is  illustrated  in  the  Bethnal  Green  improvement 
in  London. 


26  IFmprovemcnt  of  ^owns  anD  Cities 


Arch  of  the  Star,  since  from  it  as  centre  radiate 
twelve  streets,  three  of  them  more  than  a  hundred 
metres  broad,  seven  more  than  a  thousand  metres 
long,  and  five  offering  a  clear  view  of  more  than  an 
English  mile.  The  arrangement  has  been  named 
"  the  stateliest  in  any  capital."  So  in  other  mere 
details  the  principles  of  the  plan  may  be  success- 
fully applied  when  the  scheme  as  a  whole  is  im- 
practical.* A  number  of  streets  may  focus,  for 
instance,  to  a  little  park  or  square  on  which  is  the 
railroad  station,  as  at  Providence  ;  or  a  public 
building,  as  at  Washington;  or  there  may  be  a 
broad  encircling  street  almost  in  the  heart  of  the 
town,  as  at  Carlsruhe.  Even  where  important 
streets  cross  at  right  angles  the  point  of  juncture 
may  be  given  advantageously  a  circular  treatment, 
with  arcs  either  convex  or  concave.  The  one  is 
exemplified  by  the  "circuses"  of  London;  the 
other,  less  attractive  on  paper,  gives,  in  the  series 
of  outward  curving  arcs,  a  better  architectural  op- 
portunity, and  accommodates  as  large  a  traffic  with 
economy  in  building  space. 

The  grouping  of  public  buildings  may  be  prop- 
erly considered  under  street  plans.     It  is  not  with- 

'  A  subject  for  discussion  at  meetings  of  the  Architectural 
League  of  New  York  has  been  "  The  Reconstruction  of  the 
City  Plan,"  and  the  speakers  have  given  special  attention  to 
the  creation  of  a  "  civic  centre,"  and  to  worthy  approaches 
to  new  bridges.  Throughout,  the  ]:)rinciples  given  here  were 
considered  fundamental,  and  the  projects  are  mainly  of  inter- 
est as  illustrating  their  application  of  the  principles  to  particu- 
lar cases. 


Cbc  Street  iplan  27 


out  many  illustrations,  especially  in  Europe,  where 
castle,  duomo,  and  perhaps  court-theatre  are  fre- 
quently neighbors.  The  structures  may  be  gath- 
ered around  a  central  square,  as  —  let  us  say  —  in 
Venice;  they  may  line  the  river,  as  in  Paris;  they 
may  glorify  a  single  short  street,  as  in  Berlin.  In 
any  case,  aside  from  securing  a  centre  for  the  pub- 
lic business,  each  imposing  structure  adds  dignity 
to  the  others,  and  merely  by  the  concentration  the 
public  business  assumes  a  visible  importance  that 
it  could  not  have  were  the  buildings  for  its  trans- 
action scattered. 

In  the  United  States  this  result  has  been  seldom 
gained.  The  public  buildings  are  representative 
of  at  least  three  landlords,  the  city,  county,  and 
national  governments,  and  these  rarely  consult 
with  each  other  in  the  choice  of  their  own  sites. 
As  a  consequence,  the  post  office  rises  in  one  place, 
the  court-house  in  another,  the  city  hall  in  yet  a 
third.  Each  loses  in  dignity  through  the  crowd- 
ing about  it  of  commercial  structures.  The  city  is 
robbed  of  definite  centre,  nor  is  there  a  spot  that 
beyond  all  rivalry  attracts  to  itself  rcsthetic  street 
adornment  and  gives  to  it  unquestionable  appropri- 
ateness. In  Cleveland,  however,  a  very  rare  op- 
portunity lately  arose  for  putting  this  group  plan 
into  operation,  and  it  has  been  worthily  embraced. 
The  construction  was  contemplated,  almost  simul- 
taneously, of  a  public  library,  a  chamber  of  com- 
merce, a  city  hall,  a  post  office,  and  a  court-house. 
After  years  of  discussion  and  earnest  agitation, 
the   group   plan  has  been    formally  adopted,   and 


28  irniprovenicnt  of  tTowns  aii&  Cities 


a  site  has  been  chosen  on  the  lake-front  for  the 
buildings.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  therefore, 
we  may  look  for  a  very  notable  example  of  this 
plan  in  an  American  city.  It  happens  in  this  case 
that  the  principal  railroad  station  will  be  near  the 
group  of  public  buildings  and  a  happy  opportunity 
can  be  improved  to  give  to  the  city  a  worthy  land 
and  lake  portal. 

Indeed,  in  an  ideal  city  plan,  a  railroad  station 
would  be  dignified  and  emphasized.  It  need  hardly 
be  said  that  streets  should  focus  to  it,  and  a  sug- 
gestion that  in  the  modern  city  the  railroad  station 
has  "  replaced  the  gate  of  the  feudal  walled  city  " 
has  behind  it  a  degree  of  sense  to  which  an  archi- 
tectural and  topographical  expression  might  well 
be  given.  As  a  rule  villages  are  more  scrupulous 
in  this  regard  than  are  cities. 

In  a  city's  outlying  territory,  where  a  natural 
focus  should  be  found  in  the  suburban  station,  dif- 
ferences in  street  plan  are  rather  of  degree  than  of 
kind.  Economy  in  building  area  is  less  imperative, 
and  the  streets  may  thus  be  broader.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  accommodations  for  traffic  do  not  have 
to  be  liberal,  so  that  we  are  free  to  provide  for  a 
park-like  treatment  on  the  wide  streets,  and  at 
points  of  intersection,  especially  where  acute  angles 
suggest  a  pushing  back  of  the  building  line,  to  ar- 
range in  the  plan  for  small  parks,  circles,  and 
squares.  In  this  case  the  slowly  curving  "  Ring- 
strasse  "  may  wisely  be  treated  as  a  park  road. 

We  are  dealing  here,  however,  only  with  the  plan, 


Cbe  Street  iJMan  29 


not  with  the  adornment  of  the  streets.  If  it  is  true 
of  compactly  built-up  city  areas,  it  must  be  yet 
more  emphatically  true  of  recently  annexed,  or 
outlying,  city  territory,  that  it  is  not  too  late  to 
consider  so  fundamental  a  matter  even  as  its  map- 
ping. New  suburban  areas  are  constantly  laid  out, 
and  receive  constantly  more  serious  thought  for 
their  treatment  as  a  harmonious  whole.  "  We  buy 
the  land  by  the  acre  and  sell  it  by  the  lot,"  epito- 
mizes a  familiar  operation  in  suburban  real  estate, 
and  reveals  at  once  the  opportunity  for  aesthetic 
plotting  which  is  one  secret  of  success  in  selling. 
The  thing,  then,  for  the  city  to  do,  is  to  see  that 
the  acres  are  brought  into  harmony  with  each  other 
as  well  as  the  lots,  that  all  areas  are  made  to  con- 
form with  the  one  general  plan  for  the  whole  sub- 
urban property. 

Trite  as  this  seems,  it  is  repeatedly  ignored, 
where  cities  have  so  many  other  interests  that  they 
forget  their  fringing  outskirts.  There  result  those 
unplanned,  bedraggled  suburbs  which  make  so 
dreary  an  approach  to  great  cities — to  London  and 
New  York,  for  example — just  where  the  city  should 
be  blending  with  the  country  pleasantly,  in  broad 
and  shady  streets,  garden  lined,  with  every  vantage- 
point  of  site  made  much  of.  The  comfort  is,  that 
here  and  there  thought  is  turning  to  the  suburbs 
while  yet  there  is  time;  and  by  the  reclaiming  of 
scattered  areas,  or  by  the  planning  of  new  districts 
from  the  very  start  with  artistic  purpose  —  as  with 
Garden  City  and  Tuxedo  Park,  New  York,  or  in 
the  design  for  Berkeley  neighborhood,  California — - 


30  f  mprovement  of  Sowns  anD  Cittes 


is  teaching  by  successful  example  a  moving  lesson. 
Some  Western  States,  indeed,  learning  from  the 
experience  of  the  East,  have  now  passed  laws  regu- 
lating the  survey  of  outlying  areas,  with  a  view  to 
probable  urban  absorption  at  last;  and  the  mayor 
of  Philadelphia  in  his  message  in  1900  urged 
strongly  that  aesthetic  foresight  be  shown  in  the 
planting  of  new  streets  in  the  undeveloped  portions 
of  the  city. 

Aside  from  new  undertakings,  much  is  still  ac- 
complished, moreover,  in  the  very  heart  of  cities, 
where  streets  which  have  been  long  established  have 
become  inadequate  to  the  demands  of  traffic,  or  in- 
compatible with  the  modern  ideas  of  sanitation. 
Whole  districts  have  been  razed  in  London,  Paris, 
Rome,  and  a  score  of  smaller  cities,  to  make  way 
for  new  streets  and  plazas  built  on  a  system  of 
hygienic  and  aesthetic  merit,  or  to  serve  as  arteries 
for  vastly  increased  traffic.  The  method  of  pro- 
cedure, whether  by  the  municipality  or  a  private 
corporation,  is  often  of  large  interest  and  might 
perhaps  be  studied  profitably  here.  But  the  under- 
takings in  which  these  reformers,  corporate  or 
municipal,  become  landlords  on  an  extensive  scale, 
reimbursing  themselves,  in  part  at  least,  by  the  in- 
creased value  of  the  building  property,  are  too 
complex  to  be  concisely  handled.  And  unless 
made  in  detail  the  study  would  be  of  little  value' 
to  us;  for  as  yet  such  enterprises  in  this  country 

'  Those  interested  can  find  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject in  city  documents  or  in  periodical  literature,  and  excellent 


XLbc  Street  IMan  31 


have  been  pushed  more  modestly,  and  have  been 
due  mainly  to  private  initiative. 

Yet,  during  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth 
century — since  this  volume  was  first  issued — the 
movement  made  big  strides  in  the  United  States. 
When  the  second  decade  began,  city  planning 
had  become  the  subject  of  national  conferences; 
the  universities  were  opening  courses  in  it;  and 
no  city  but  was  influenced  by  the  demand  for 
a  more  scientific  platting  of  its  streets — that 
the  ends  of  efficiency  as  well  as  beauty  might 
be  served.  An  account  of  the  principles  under- 
lying saner  methods  of  street  platting  may  be 
found  in  the  author's  later  volume,  T/ie  Width 
and  Arrangement  of  Streets.  It  is  impossible  here, 
in  a  paragraph,  to  more  than  note  that  there  has 
risen  a  new  profession,  of  city  planning — fraught 
with  tremendous  promise  for  the  improvement  of 
cities  and  towns. 

Thus  is  it  claimed  that  there  may  be  serious 
thought  of  the  street  plans  of  cities.  Now,  if 
ever,  is  it  pertinent  to  measure  the  relative  merits 
of  the  diagonal,  gridiron,  and  circular  systems, 
or  the  advantages  of  their  combination.  It  is 
not  too  late  to  discover  what  principles  for  the 
attainment  of  city  beauty  may  be  gained  from 
each.  Even  in  Paris  the  streets  that  now  radiate 
so  magnificently  from  the  Arc  de  I'Etoile  were 
not  opened  until  years  after  the  arch  had  been 
erected. 

resuinh  in  Dr.  Shaw's  volumes  on  Municipal  Government  in 
Great  Britain  and  in  Continental  Europe. 


32  •Smprovemeiit  of  Clowns  anD  Cities 


When  we  have  learned  the  science  of  street 
planning;  when  we  are  plotting  new  territories  on 
an  artistic  and  harmonious  system,  or  are  making 
our  changes  in  existing  streets  with  such  a  scheme 
in  mind,  doubtless  there  will  also  be  paid  mere 
conscientious  heed  to  nomenclature.  On  the  one 
hand,  we  shall  take  care  to  avoid  the  hopelessly 
prosaic  numerical  and  alphabetical  systems  of  New 
York,  Chicago,  and  Washington,  Such  merits  as 
they  have  are  somewhat  akin  to  those  which  belong 
to,  and  explam,  the  custom  of  numbering  the  con- 
victs in  large  prisons;  but  those  merits  would  not 
excuse  us  for  designating  the  world's  poets  and 
artists,  its  fair  women,  and  our  children  in  that 
way.  On  the  other  hand,  we  shall  doubtless  avoid 
cumbrous  titles,  as  those  now  held  by  such  streets 
as  (in  Paris)  the  Rue  du  Quatre  Septembre.  But 
within  reasonable  bounds  we  shall  not  suppress 
whatever  is  characteristic,  individual,  of  local  color. 
We  shall  cherish  that,  although  it  lead  us  to  the 
long  list  of  State-named  avenues  in  Washington,  to 
the  strange  names  of  some  London  streets,  or  to 
New  Orleans's  quaint  use  of  such  abstractions  as 
Virtue,  Law,  Industry,  and  Pleasure  as  street 
names,  even  to  the  suffrance  of  a  Goodchildren 
Street.  We  shall  rise  above  the  feeble  wit  that 
makes  "  Main  Street  "  designate  a  leading  thor- 
oughfare, seeing  in  the  opportunity  to  name  our 
streets  a  chance  to  write  and  preserve  local  history 
and  tradition,  to  honor  with  so  constant  a  reminder 
the  names  of  men  and  women  of  distinction,  and 
to  record  the  community's  ideals,  its  admiration. 


dbc  Street  ^Inn  33 


and  its  progress.  There  are  no  lasting  monuments 
that  are  cheaper,  more  distinctly  popular  and  ob- 
vious, than  street  names.  Then  we  may  group 
these  designations,  as  Paris  does,  so  that  the  name 
of  a  scholar  will  indicate  one  district;  the  name  of 
a  soldier  another;  the  reminder  of  an  event  a  third. 
Or  we  may  divide  the  municipal  area  into  quadrants 
and  suffix,  as  in  London,  the  initials  of  the  quad- 
rant of  the  compass  to  the  street  name.  We  do 
not  need  numbers  for  the  designation  of  locality. 

And  t'.vo  things  as  to  nomenclature  will  be  settled 
definitely,  by  law:  street  names  will  be  made  much 
more  difficult  to  change  than  now;  and  street, 
avenue,  boulevard,  place,  and  square  will  have  each 
its  precise  definition  which  will  render  the  applica- 
tion of  the  term  a  question  not  of  sentiment  but  of 
condition. 
3 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    ELEMENTARY    CONSTRUCTION 

WHEN  we  have  duly  considered  the  natural 
features  of  a  city's  site,  determined  its 
centre  of  business,  and  plotted  its  streets  and 
avenues,  the  question  of  actual  construction  pre- 
sents itself.  Perhaps  our  streets  cross  streams, 
and  we  must  build  bridges.  At  all  events,  the 
streets  must  be  paved,  and  the  pavements  cared 
for;  they  must  be  lighted;  wires  for  lighting,  tele- 
graph, telephone,  and  fire  alarm  must  be  disposed 
of;  buildings  must  be  erected  with  regard  to  safety 
and  appearance;  perhaps  there  are  glaring  adver- 
tisements to  be  controlled,  and  clouds  of  black 
smoke  to  be  suppressed.  The  best  planned  city, 
for  the  problems  presented  here  are  far  more  typi- 
cally urban  than  rural,  would  be  hideous  if  the  care 
stopped  with  the  planning. 

The  effects  to  be  secured  group  themselves  read- 
ily into  two  classes  of  effort:  by  creation,  as  paving, 
lighting,  etc. ;   and  by  suppression  or  repression. 

In  the  creative  group,  we  may  first  consider 
bridges.     The  point   to  be  made  is  very  simple, 

34 


Zbc  Elcmcnrnrv?  Construction  35 


but  it  is  strangely  novel.  It  is  that  a  bridge  is  so 
conspicuous  and  monumental  a  structure  that  we 
should  not  be  satisfied  merely  with  durability  and 
strength,  but  should  demand  that  to  these  be  added 
fitness,  grace,  and  beauty.  A  bridge  has  been  in 
course  of  construction  across  the  Thames,  in  Lon- 
don. The  County  Council  was  the  constructor 
and  provided  the  design.  Against  the  latter's  en- 
gineering features  there  were  no  protests,  but 
criticism  of  the  structure  on  aesthetic  grounds  was 
violent  and  authoritative.  The  council  asked  the 
Royal  Institute  of  British  Architects,  which  had 
come  into  the  discussion,  to  furnish  a  new  design. 
It  did  so,  using  the  engineering  features  of  the 
first.  The  result  was  that  the  engineer  himself 
made  another  and  better  drawing,  and  London 
was  saved  from  an  eye-sore  that  would  have  been 
conspicuous  for  generations.  The  true  story  may 
be  treated  as  a  universal  fable,  and  its  outcome 
suggests  a  remedy. 

Let  the  city  accept  no  design  for  a  bridge  until 
an  artistic  authority  has  passed  upon  the  structure's 
proposed  appearance.  The  charter  of  New  York 
city  provides  for  an  Art  Commission  to  whom  shall 
be  submitted  for  approval  before  acceptance  all 
"works  of  art."  Then  it  adds,  that  "when  so 
requested  by  the  mayor  or  the  municipal  assembly  " 
it  may  have  a  like  veto  power  over  bridges,  public 
buildings,  "  or  other  structures  of  a  permanent 
character  intended  for  ornament  or  commemora- 
tion." The  new  charter  of  Baltimore,  in  also  pro- 
viding for  a  Municipal  Art  Commission,  declares 


36  Umpiovemcnt  of  Cowns  anD  Cities 


that  at  the  request  of  the  mayor  or  council  the 
commission  shall  "  give  its  advice  as  to  the  suita- 
bility of  the  design  of  any  public  building,  bridge, 
or  other  structure."  There  are  art  commissions 
in  other  cities,  and  always  art  authorities,  so  that 
the  step  advocated  is  simple.  Indeed,  when  en- 
gineers were  lately  invited  to  submit  competitive 
plans  for  a  memorial  bridge  across  the  Potomac  at 
Washington,  each  was  required  to  select  an  archi- 
tect who  should  prepare  his  plans  with  him. 

But  simple  and  reasonable  as  aesthetic  protection 
is,  how  little,  on  the  whole,  it  has  been  made  use 
of!  Seldom  has  any  city  offered  such  bridge  oppor- 
tunities as  New  York;  but  the  only  structure  of  this 
kind,  of  which  it  is  really  and  artistically  proud,  is 
the  Washington  Bridge.  The  most  conspicuous  one, 
as  this  book  is  written  (the  Brooklyn  Bridge)  is 
impressive  in  its  span  and  in  its  metal  work;  but  of 
its  looming  towers  no  man  feels  proud.  Yet  the 
initial  projects  for  the  new  East  River  bridges  do 
not  indicate  that  its  lesson  has  been  laid  to  heart. 
Their  approaches  promise,  indeed,  to  have  that 
adequate  dignity  that  will  render  them  less  inci- 
dental and  dwarfing  than  are  those  of  the  Brooklyn 
Bridge,  but  the  ofificial  conception  of  the  structures 
seems  yet  to  be  that  they  are  merely  subjects  for 
engineering.  Could  any  conception  of  so  striking 
a  feature  of  the  landsca]:)e  be  as  false  as  that  ? '  It 
would  represent,  were  the  artistic  and  industrial 
spirits  antithetical,  the  victory  of  the  latter;  but 
the  industrial  can  never  be  finally  triumphant  until 
it  has  made  the  artistic  its  ally. 

'  Vd.  note,  pg.  299. 


tlbe  jeicmentarv?  Conftiuctfoii-  37 


In  the  submission  of  bridge  designs  to  aesthetic 
criticism,  we  have  only  negative,  or  protective, 
effort.  It  may  save  us  from  something  radically 
bad;  but  we  are  to  desire  something  radically 
good.  The  most  obvious  way  to  secure  this  would 
be  by  the  construction  of  a  bridge  of  which  the 
purely  utilitarian  purpose  should  be  not  a  whit 
more  pronounced  than  the  purely  artistic.  In 
classic  times  the  Romans  sometimes  constructed  a 
bridge  to  commemorate  an  historic  event.  The 
thing  has  been  done  from  time  to  time  through  all 
the  centuries,  until  now  the  grandest  bridge  in 
Paris  is  the  Alexander  III.,  commemorating  a 
visit  from  the  Czar  and  designed  in  its  details  by 
prominent  sculptors.  In  the  United  States  a  pro- 
ject is  under  discussion  for  a  memorial  bridge  at 
Washington  that  shall  be  very  prominent  in  the 
new  plans  to  make  the  capital  beautiful.  At 
Hartford,  Conn.,  the  soldiers'  monument  takes  the 
form  of  a  memorial  bridge.  Monumental  structures 
have  been  built  across  the  Charles  at  Boston;  and 
it  might  often  happen  that  with  financial,  as  well  as 
striking  aesthetic,  advantage  a  bridge  made  beauti- 
ful could  be  substituted  for  the  usual  sculptured 
group  or  monolith. 

But  relatively  such  structures  must  be  rare.  The 
greater  number  of  bridges  will  always  be  erected 
merely  to  carry  the  traffic  of  the  street  over  the 
stream.  The  Ponte  Vecchio  in  Florence,  which 
does  this  with  houses  on  either  side  of  it  so  that 
the  traveller  can  scarcely  tell  that  the  river  is  below 
him,  played  perfectly  its  part  from  that  point  of 


38  Umprovcmcnt  of  tlowns  an&  Cities 


view.  But  a  better  appreciation  of  the  worth  in  a 
city's  heart  of  God's  unimprisoned  sunshine,  of 
open  space,  and  free  air  currents,  suggests  that  the 
chance  afforded  by  the  bridging  of  a  river  be  made 
use  of,  if  any  natural  beauty  yet  pertain  to  stream 
or  banks.  Accordingly  it  would  seem  that  from 
the  gesthetic  standpoint,  when  a  bridge  is  designed 
merely  to  be  the  extension  of  a  street,  or  the  con- 
necting link  of  its  parts,  with  no  artistic  message  of 
its  own  to  deliver,  that  bridge  were  best  —  most 
suitable  and  beautiful — which  carries  out  most  per- 
fectly the  idea  of  the  street,  minus  enclosing  build- 
ings. This  is  a  conspicuous  merit  of  some  of  the 
bridges  of  Paris.  At  the  street's  level,  of  precisely 
equal  width  to  it,  similarly  paved  and  flagged,  and 
obtruding  no  break  in  the  vista,  we  have,  viewed 
from  its  approaches,  not  so  plainly  a  bridge  as  a 
space  of  glorified  street  where,  for  a  little  distance, 
there  are  no  buildings,  where  the  lights  are  some- 
what more  ornate,  where  rests  are  cut  in  the  broad 
stone  coping,  and  perhaps  sculpture  marks  the  be- 
ginning and  end  of  the  short  —  one  nearly  says 
"  plaza."  If  from  the  river  view  also  the  bridge 
be  satisfactory,  harmonizing  —  as  it  is  apt  to  do  — 
with  worthy  treatment  of  the  banks,  and  joining  in 
itself  strength  and  grace  and  dignity,  we  have  the 
ideal  structure  of  its  kind.  Happily,  the  type  is 
becoming  constantly  more  common  and  one  does 
not  need  to  seek  Paris  to  find  it. 

Unconscious  appreciation  of  this  principle  is 
doubtless  at  the  root  of  the  dissatisfaction  at  the 
appearance  of  the  great  Tower  Bridge,  in  London; 


^bc  JElementarp  Construction  39 


and  It  casts  the  weight  of  its  influence  against 
"  overhead  "  works  or  braces  anywhere,  even  in 
little  bridges,  when  they  can  be  there  discarded.' 

To  recapitulate,  then,  the  bridge  that  does  most 
for  a  city's  beauty  is  ordinarily  that  which  is  least  a 
bridge  and  roost  a  glorified  space  of  street.  When 
high  banks  or  demands  of  navigation  require  a 
more  conspicuous  structure  the  design,  however 
perfect  in  engineering  features,  should  be  subject 
to  artistic  criticism;  and  finally  the  occasion  must 
sometimes  arise  when  a  bridge  may  be  made  a 
positive  and  striking  part  of  a  city's  adornment. 

The  subject  of  street  paving  may  be  properly 
said  to  belong  to  this  section  of  municipal  creation. 
The  subject  is  a  broad  one,  upon  which  a  great 
deal  of  technical  writing  has  been  done.  In  fact, 
it  is  mainly  technical,  for  to  say  that  city  beauty  re- 
quires good  paving  is  almost  axiomatic,  and  the 
question  at  once  resolves  itself  into  what  **  good  " 
pavement  is,  the  answer  varying  with  neighbor- 
hood, even  with  latitude  and  longitude,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  traffic.  Doubtless  it  is  because 
pavements  have  to  be  selected  so  largely  with  ref- 
erence to  their  trafific  burdens,   to  considerations 

'  In  the  cities  along  the  Erie  Canal  in  New  York  State,  the 
"lift "  bridge  is  common,  i.  c-.,  a  bridge  which  rises  to  permit 
the  passage  of  boats  beneath  it.  Formerly,  the  greater  part 
of  the  machinery  which  raised  the  bridge  was  above  ground. 
Of  late  it  has  been  sometimes  placed  in  chambers  underground, 
with  the  result  that  the  superstructure  is  entirely  done  away 
with  and  that  the  justice  of  the  contention  made  here  has  an 
humble,  but  excellent,  illustration. 


♦o  Improvement  of  Q:own0  anD  Cities 


financial,  hygienic,  and  even  climatic,  thai  their 
aesthetic  importance  is  so  frequently  ignored.  That 
scarcely  requires  more,  hoAvever,  than  that  the 
pavement  be  even,  and  that  it  be  clean. 

It  is  worth  while  to  note  that  almost  simultane- 
ously with  the  new  and  urgent  demand  that  cities 
be  made  more  wholesome,  dignified,  and  hand- 
some there  has  come  the  discovery  of  that  com- 
mercially available  asphaltum,  and  the  art  of 
preparing  it  for  paving,  which  have  done  so  much 
to  bring  about  just  these  results.  Probably  few 
persons  realize  how  great  has  been  the  recent  ad- 
vance in  this  department  of  urban  development. 
For,  without  regard  merely  to  the  use  of  asphalt,  it 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  most  cities  of  the 
United  States  far  the  greater  portion  of  improved 
pavements  has  been  laid  since  1880. 

No  longer  ago  than  1855,  the  standard  type  of 
pavement  in  New  York  was  the  cobblestone,  and 
even  that  was  a  luxury  mainly  confined  to  the 
lower  part  of  the  city.  Now  public  opinion  per- 
mits only  its  occasional  use  in  an  alley,  and  in 
some  cities — as  in  Baltimore,  for  example — paving 
with  cobblestones  is  prohibited  by  law,  like  murder, 
theft,  and  drunkenness.  The  first  asphalt  pave- 
ment was  put  down  in  Washington  in  1878.  A 
year  later  New  York  tried  one  little  block  of  it  in 
front  of  a  hotel  as  an  experiment,  and  it  was  1888 
before  a  considerable  stretch  of  the  new  pavement 
was  ventured.  Then  it  was  laid  on  ten  blocks  of 
Madison  Avenue.  In  Indianapolis  the  Commercial 
Club,  formed  for  the  [purpose  of  securing  improve- 


Zbe  Elemental^  Conetructlon  41 


ment  in  the  public  work,  with  a  thousand  members, 
held  in  1890  a  Paving  Exposition.  This  was  the 
first  of  its  kind,  but  it  attracted  more  than  five 
hundred  official  representatives  of  other  American 
cities. 

With  the  more  urgent  desire  for  urban  regenera- 
tion, with  the  recognition  of  the  asplialt's  hygienic 
value  in  the  poorer  districts,  with  the  bicycle 
and  automobile,  there  has  come  an  insistent  de- 
mand for  improvement  until  whole  streets  and  dis- 
tricts have  been  newly  paved.  In  some  cases  the 
street  car  companies  are  called  upon  to  do  this  work 
in  the  streets  they  traverse,  and  nearly  always  they 
are  compelled  to  assist  largely  in  the  expense  of  it; 
but  the  cities  themselves  have  lately  paid  out  great 
sums  in  paving  (in  New  York  an  average  of  $2,- 
000,000  a  year  merely  for  asphalt  after  1895  being 
considered  not  excessive).  The  result  is  that,  with 
the  sums  to  be  spent  for  water,  sewerage,  etc.,  they 
have  little  money  to  spare  in  more  direct  and 
obviously  artistic  self-adornment.  This  has  been 
sometimes  deplored;  but  it  is  doubtful  if,  with 
artistic  purpose  only,  they  could,  at  the  commoner 
American  stage  of  development,  have  expended  a 
like  sum  to  better  artistic  purpose  than  ir  good 
paving.  And  if  we  can  look  forward  to  tl  j  day 
when,  the  great  burden  of  elementary  construction 
over,  the  cities  will  have  larger  sums  at  hand  to 
spend  for  beauty,  we  may  know  that  the  progress 
toward  the  new  municipal  art  will  have  been  logical. 
For  it  is  far  better,  and  safer  for  its  continuance, 
that  we  pass  from  costly  pavements  to  costly  sculp- 


42  Improvement  of  G;own3  anD  Cities 


ture,  that  we  progress  from  pure  water  to  pure  art, 
than  that  the  order  be  reversed. 

The  assertion  is  not  made  that  the  asphalt  is 
always  preferable.  Not  only  may  a  better  pave- 
ment be  yet  discovered;  but  there  are  places  where 
the  wooden  or  granite  block,  brick,  or  macadam  is 
to  be  chosen  over  asphalt  without  a  moment's  hesi- 
tation. The  point  is  only  that  good  paving  is  a  sine 
qua  noil  of  city,  and  even  of  village,  beauty,  and 
that  it  is  foolishness  to-day  to  talk  of  statues  and 
fountains  and  lovely  vistas  if  the  streets  be  poorly 
paved. 

Having  put  a  good  pavement  down,  the  next  re- 
quisite is  to  keep  it  in  repair  and  keep  it  clean. 
The  common  American  custom  is  to  wait  until  the 
whole  pavement  goes  to  pieces  (which  means  to  let 
it  go  to  pieces)  and  then  to  lay  a  new  one.  The 
European  usage  is  to  keep  repairing  all  the  time; 
whenever  a  foot  of  pavement  is  broken  to  repair 
that  foot.  All  the  advantages,  financial,  sesthetic, 
and  in  the  convenience  of  traffic,  are  with  the  latter 
system.  The  frequent  practice  of  requiring  a  guar- 
anty for  a  term  of  years  from  the  contractor  who 
lays  an  expensive  pavement  is  gradually,  however, 
if  indirectly,  leading  American  cities  into  this  better 
method  of  procedure.  For  such  action  also  the 
automobile  is  exerting  tremendous  influence. 

As  to  cleaning  the  pavements,  that  department 
of  urban  administration  has  been  long  a  reproach 
to  American  cities.  But  the  question  has  not 
been,  on  the  part  of  taxpayers,  one  of  dollars,  or 


Zbc  Elementary  Constructton  43 


of  sense;  the  department  has  failed  in  its  work  be- 
cause it  has  been  considered  the  fair  prey  of  politics. 
Dirty  politics  have  failed  steadily  to  relieve  dirty 
streets.  Until  we  can  think  of  street  cleaning  as  a 
business,  not  a  political,  operation  we  may  look  in 
vain  for  beautiful  cities. 

The  value  of  street  cleaning  is  aesthetic  as  well 
as  hygienic.     But  for  practical  purposes  of  admin- 
istration it  is  treated  under  one  or  the  other  head, 
as  if  it  belonged  in  that  sphere  alone.     In  Glasgow, 
for  instance,  the  cleaning  of  the  streets  is  grouped 
with  the  inspection  of  houses,  tlie  collection  of  gar- 
bage, etc.,  as  a  part  of  the  sanitary  government. 
With  us,  and  more  commonly  on  the  Continent,  it 
is  a  service  by  itself,  with  the  a;sthetic  purpose  pre- 
dominant.    The  history  of  the  street  cleaning  effort 
in   Paris  is   illuminating  from  this  point  of  view. 
Originally  the  law  required  each  resident  to  sweep 
his  share  of  the  street,  that  part  of  it  which  lay  in 
front  of  the  premises  he  occupied,  just  as  we  now 
take  care  of  our  sidewalks.     In  1853,  when  modern 
Paris  was  beginning  to  appear  out  of  the  maze  of 
street  reforms,  a  new  rule  required  the  thorough 
cleansing  every  day  of  the  public  roads;  but  that 
the  rule  might  not  lay  too  onerous  a  burden,  the 
city  undertook   to   care   for   the   sweeping   of   the 
squares  and  the  middle  strip  of  the  broad  avenues. 
Little   by   little,   individuals  then   began   to  adopt 
the  i)lan  of  making  a  money  payment  as  an  induce- 
ment to  the  administration  to  do  their  sweeping  for 
them,  and  finally,  by  1873,  the  government  actually 
found  itself  doing  half  the  street  cleaning  of  Paris. 


44  ffmpcovcment  of  Cowns  anD  Cities 


It  ihen  became  clear  that  a  uniform  municipal 
service  would  be  popular,  more  economical,  and 
mc^e  efficient,  and  a  law  was  enacted  changing  the 
citizen's  old-time  obligation  into  a  direct  tax. 

In  the  United  States,  we  have  started  with  this 
tax  and  so  in  the  main  have  lacked  the  sense  of 
vivid,  personal  interest  in  the  results;  we  talk 
about  "  systems  "  and  vast  undertakings,  and  for- 
get that  individually  we  have  merely  hired  the  city 
to  keep  clean  our  own  small  bit  of  road.  Next  to 
"  political  methods,"  that  loss  by  the  private  citi- 
zens of  a  sense  of  personal  responsibility  is  prob- 
ably the  greatest  cause  for  inefficiency  in  our  street 
cleaning.  It  may  be  that  we  shall  have  to  go  back 
to  the  system  with  which  Paris  started — "  begin  all 
over  again,"  as  children  say — before  we  can  attain 
to  that  official  conscientiousness  which  is  so  largely 
based  on  fear  of  private  criticism. 

There  are  always  some  in  the  community  who  are 
exacting,  who  will  be  satisfied  with  the  perform- 
ance of  nothing  less  than  its  full  duty  by  the  branch 
of  the  city  government  in  whose  operation  they  feel 
special  interest.  This  branch  has  been  more  and 
more  of  late  the  department  of  street  cleaning,  since 
the  rise  of  the  new  ideal  of  city  life.  Every  ex- 
pensive pavement  enlists  more  champions  to  the 
cause  of  clean  pavements,  and  together  these  de- 
siderata so  underlie  all  claims  to  city  beauty  that  a 
good  deal  of  the  whole  municipal  art  movement's 
enthusiasm  has  been  absorbed  by  them.  And  very 
properly  has  it  been,  for  as  a  man  is  judged  by  his 
linen,  so  a  city  must  submit  to  the  stamp  that  its 


Cbe  JElementars  Construction  45 


streets  put  upon  it.  From  this  scattered  awaken- 
ing of  a  personal  sense  of  responsibility  many  very 
interesting  and  helpful  voluntary  movements  have 
arisen.    It  will  be  profitable  to  observe  three  types. 

In  1S97,  the  Merchants'  Association  of  San 
Francisco  had  915  business  firms  on  its  roll  of 
members.  To  keep  them  and  the  public  generally 
familiar  with  the  work  and  aims  of  the  association 
an  eight-page  paper  was  started,  containing  original 
articles  and  editorials  on  municipal  questions.  No 
advertisements  were  admitted,  and  five  thousand  ' 
copies  a  month  were  distributed  freely.  The  clean- 
ing of  the  streets  was  the  first  subject  of  agitation. 
Preliminary  plans  were  prepared  for  an  improved 
method  of  street  cleaning,  and  then  the  association 
offered  to  see  to  the  cleaning  of  any  block  within  a 
certain  district  if  the  merchants  of  that  block  would 
subscribe  at  a  rate  of  not  more  than  ten  cents  a  day 
for  a  frontage  of  twenty-five  feet.  Subscriptions 
flowed  in,  and  the  plan  was  a  success.  Thus  en- 
couragement was  given  for  undertaking  the  city 
contract,  as  an  object-lesson.  A  very  low  bid  in- 
duced the  Board  of  Supervisors  to  award  the  con- 
tract to  the  association's  president.  Its  directors 
became  his  bondsmen,  and  the  work  was  planned 
and  managed  by  its  officers.  To  insure  success, 
$30,000  was  raised  by  voluntary  subscription  to  add 
to  the  contract  price,  and  the  work  was  triumph- 
antly carried  through.  At  the  approach  of  the 
contract's  expiration,  plans  and  specifications  for 
a  continuance  of  the  system  were  prepared.     These 

'  In   1902  the  membership  had  risen  to  over  1300,  and  the 
edition  of  the  paper  to  10,000. 


46  Umprovemcnt  of  ttowns  anO  Cities 


the  city  authorities  adopted.  The  case  is  an  in- 
teresting example  of  a  return  to  the  original  Paris- 
ian theory  of  individual  obligation  as  antecedent 
to  a  successful  municipal  service.  In  Chicago  the 
municipal  committee  of  the  Civic  Federation, 
undertaking  street  cleaning  in  the  business  dis- 
trict, did  so  with  the  purpose,  successfully  accom- 
plished, of  showing  that  the  city  had  been  paying 
too  high  a  price.  In  Cincinnati  more  recently  the 
Business  Men's  Club  maintained  for  some  months 
a  band  of  white-clothed  street  sweepers  to  show 
the  value  of  a  uniformed  service. 

Such  are  types  of  voluntary  effort  to  improve 
efficiency  undertaken  by  the  citizens.  There  may 
now  be  added  to  them  an  example  so  often  paral- 
leled that  it  is  scarcely  fair  to  seem  to  limit  it  by 
the  designation  of  a  city.  This  is  the  work  done 
for  clean  streets  by  women's  clubs.  Yet,  that  a 
specific  example  may  give  definite  encouragement, 
let  us  note  the  small  Civic  Club  in  Hartford,  Conn. 
It  had  informal  origin  at  a  luncheon,  where  the 
women  were  discussing  the  dirty  streets.  Those 
present  effected  an  organization,  limited  its  mem- 
bership to  150,  and  set  out  to  see  what  woman's 
interest  could  do  toward  cleaning  the  city.  It  was 
resolved  that  the  club  should  be  conservative,  and 
as  a  result  of  maintaining  perfectly  friendly  rela- 
tions with  the  municipal  boards  it  has  done  much 
merely  by  suggestions.  The  club  addressed  letters 
to  property-holders,  requesting  co-operation  ;  it  in- 
duced the  city  to  furnish  cans  for  waste  at  the 
corners  of  the  streets,  and  to  make  the  scattering 


^be  JElementarg  Construction  47 


of  papers  or  refuse  a  punishable  offence.  A  school 
league  was  then  formed,  before  the  movement  had 
been  generally  inaugurated,  and  Hartford  streets 
became  conspicuously  clean.  In  Lowell,  Mass., 
the  Middlesex  Club  printed  and  distributed  por- 
tions of  the  city  ordinances  relating  to  street  clean- 
ing, so  illustrating  a  quieter  form  of  club  interest. 
Nor  need  women  act  in  groups  to  be  of  service. 
The  Civic  Federation  of  Chicago  employed  a 
woman  as  one  of  its  inspectors  of  the  streets. 
Subsequently  (in  1897),  in  deference  to  the  vigi- 
lance of  which  she  was  the  representative,  she  was 
appointed  city  inspector  of  streets  and  alleys.  She 
was  the  pioneer  woman  in  such  an  ofhcial  position, 
and  performed  her  work  so  well  as  to  give  the 
authority  of  successful  experience  to  the  theoreti- 
cal argument  that  because  women  clean  houses 
they  are  fitted  to  clean  cities.  A  woman's  qual- 
ification for  the  place  of  street  commissioner, 
however,  should  properly  depend,  not  on  her  ex- 
perience in  wielding  a  broom,  but  on  the  possession 
of  executive  ability. 

The  third  type  of  movement,  inaugurated  by  the 
stirring  of  the  popular  conscience  against  official 
dereliction,  shall  be  political.  It  is  the  quick  and 
striking  advance  which  was  secured  in  New  York, 
under  the  late  Colonel  Waring.  In  1SS8,  only  53 
miles  of  paved  streets  in  the  city  were  cleaned 
daily.  In  1896-97,  under  the  reform  administra- 
tion, 433  miles  were  gone  over  from  one  to  five 
times  a  day  and  kept  clean.  After  the  famous 
March  blizzard  of  1888,  when  the  resources  of  the 


48  tfmpi'ovenient  ot  Clowns  aiiD  Gitiea 


old  department  were  taxed  to  their  utmost  to  re- 
move the  snow,  40,542  loads  were  carted  away. 
In  the  winter  of  1896-97,  after  each  considerable 
snowstorm  200,000  loads  were  removed,  and  in  one 
day  a  fourth  as  many  loads  again  as  in  the  whole 
week  after  the  blizzard.  Moreover,  2000  men, 
who  had  no  pride  in  their  work,  had  been  con- 
verted into  a  uniformed  army  of  2500  who  were 
proud  of  their  work,  and  who  were  sure  of  their 
positions  as  long  as  they  were  efficient.  All  diffi- 
culties were  arranged  by  arbitration;  the  pay  of 
the  sweepers  had  been  advanced  from  ^600  to 
$720  a  year;  and  thousands  of  school  children  had 
been  enlisted  in  Juvenile  Street  Cleaning  Leagues, 
in  which  they  were  taught  the  first  lessons  of  civic 
aesthetics.  When  Colonel  Waring's  work  was 
done,  he  compiled  from  his  reports  a  book  that 
was  widely  read,'  and  he  came  into  constant  de- 
mand as  an  after-dinner  speaker  and  a  lecturer. 
By  the  seemingly  lowly  path  of  street  cleaning  he 
attained  to  national  respect  and  honor. 

So  the  question  of  street  cleaning  is  a  simpler 
matter  in  this  development  of  beautiful  cities  than 
at  first  it  seemed.  The  thing  that  counts  is  not 
how  streets  are  cleaned,  but  that  they  are  clean, 
Glasgow  cleans  her  streets  in  one  way,  Paris  hers 
in  another,  Munich  (where  the  entire  burden  is 
still  left  with  the  householders ")  has  yet  a  third 

'  Street  Cleaning  and  the  Disposal  of  a  City's  Wastes,  by 
George  E.  Waring. 

'  With  the  result  that  nearly  all  of  the  work  is  done  by  con- 
tractors, who  are  employed  and  paid  by  private  individuals. 


Zbc  JElcmenrarg  CoiiBtructioii  49 


way,  New  York  has  a  fourth,  and  there  are  other 
systems.  One  way  only  leads  surely  to  efficiency, 
and  that  is  by  the  creation  of  a  popular  demand 
that  the  streets  be  clean.  This  is  unquestionably 
growing  with  the  growth  of  an  aesthetic  ideal  for 
cities,  and  with  the  recognition  that  no  dream  of  a 
fair  city  is  practical  to-day  if  the  city  be  not  veined 
by  smooth,  clean  pavements.  A  statue  in  a  sea  of 
mud  is  as  ill-chosen  an  ornament  as  were  diamonds 
on  a  beggar. 

Because  street  cleaning  is  not  merely  an  early 
and  a  necessary  step  in  the  logical  development  of 
civic  aesthetics,  but  is  also  of  value  for  educational 
influence  in  establishing  the  ideal  of  city  beauty, 
there  is  value  in  the  act  of  making  pavements  clean 
as  well  as  in  their  cleanliness.  The  use  of  waste 
cans,  for  instance,  at  periods  along  the  curb  is  even 
less  to  be  commended  on  account  of  the  consider- 
able deposits  made  in  them  than  for  their  constant 
reminder  that  the  street  is  not  a  proper  receptacle 
for  rubbish.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Juvenile  Street 
Cleaning  Leagues,  the  work  done  is  less  important 
than  the  ideal  created. 

Beautiful  cityhood,  partaking  of  the  nature  of  a 
work  of  art,  should  certainly  bear  as  little  as  pos- 
sible the  marks  of  its  making,  and  the  ideal  would 
consist  in  having  no  cleaning  done  that  is  apparent. 
The  very  best  measure  is  the  restrictive,  which 
prohibits  the  distribution  of  fly-sheets  and  circulars 
at  door-steps,  and  requires  loads  of  ashes,  dirt,  etc., 
to  be  some  inches  below  the  sideboards  of  carts. 

In  the  work  that  yet  remains,  the  means  should  be 

4 


50  Umprovcmcnt  ot  Zovons  an&  Ctties 


held  of  like  esthetic  importance  with  the  result. 
For  this  reason  there  can  be  approval  of  night 
work,  and  the  late  experiment  of  clothing  the 
street  cleaners  in  a  neat  white  uniform  is  commend- 
able. It  dignifies  the  work  and  the  workman. 
The  respect  of  the  laborer  for  himself,  and  of 
others  for  him,  is  increased  when  he  is,  somewhat 
more  obviously  than  even  the  mayor  himself,  an 
employee  of  the  municipality.  So  he  does  his 
work  better,  and  the  general  lesson  contained  in 
the  mere  circumstance  of  the  city's  requiring  his 
labor  is  the  better  learned.  Beyond  this  gain,  the 
street  itself  profits  by  the  substitution  of  a  com- 
pany of  uniformed  workmen  for  a  motley  gang  of 
laborers  in  dirty,  ragged  clothing.'  It  was  Colonel 
Waring's  experiment  to  put  the  street  cleaners  in 
uniform  and  to  create  an  esprit  de  corps.  The  first, 
which  was  the  easiest  part  of  this  task,  has  since 
been  pretty  widely  taken  up  in  the  United  States. 
In  behalf  of  the  latter  undertaking  rather  more 
might  be  done  than  is.  Perhaps  it  might  be  well 
to  identify  cleaner  and  area,  and  to  offer  individual 
rewards   for  the  work  best  performed  throughout 

'  In  this  connection  it  may  be  interesting  further  to  remark 
that  it  has  been  the  custom  of  the  street  car  company  in 
Munich  to  employ,  in  the  cleaning  of  the  tracks  and  the  space 
between  them  (for  the  cleanliness  of  which  the  company  is 
held  responsible),  sturdy  young  women  who  are  distinguished 
by  uniform  hats.  One  scarcely  need  add  that  a  certain  aes- 
thetic advantage  in  this  plan  is  offset  in  an  American's  view 
by  the  discomfort  of  seeing  women  so  employed.  In  Paris, 
also,  women  are  sometimes  included  in  the  municipal  street 
cleaning  forces. 


XLbc  J£lcincntarvi  Construction  51 


the  year.  It  need  hardly  be  added  that  what  is 
said  in  behalf  of  the  appearance  of  the  laborers  ap- 
plies as  well  to  the  rest  of  the  plant,  to  the  horses 
and  carts.  And  what  is  urged  for  the  cleanliness 
of  the  road  must  be  doubly  urged  in  behalf  of  the 
sidewalk.  It  ought  to  be  clean  and  unobstructed. 
Wagons  should  not  be  stored  in  the  road,  nor 
goods  shown  nor  boxes  stored  on  the  sidewalk. 

In  this  chapter  we  shall  not  pause  long  on  the 
subject  of  street  lighting.  Discussion  of  the  ap- 
paratus belongs  in  another  place,  and  we  have  only 
to  point  out  that  the  progress  of  invention  and 
discovery  which,  by  rapid  transit  and  improved 
pavements,  has  so  singularly  favored  of  late  an  in- 
crease of  urban  attractiveness,  has  done  quite  as 
much  in  the  direction  of  street  lighting.  From  the 
individual  lantern  to  the  public  and  permanent  oil 
lamp,  from  oil  to  gas,  and  then  to  electricity  and 
the  Welsbach  burner  is  a  record  of  progress  that 
need  only  be  named  when  other  requirements  com- 
pel the  aesthetic  ideal  to  be  the  brilliancy  of  day. 
The  movement  through  invention  is  steadily  toward 
greater  light.  Garishness  has  resulted  now  and 
then,  but  it  has  been  by  private  extravagance  sup- 
plementing, for  its  own  ends,  the  public  lighting. 
As  far  as  the  city's  street  lights  are  concerned,  a 
vt7/e  lumilre  is  still  the  goal,  and  one  that  is  far 
more  easily  accessible  now  than  ever  before. 

Into  this  question  the  matter  of  public  or  private 
ownership  does  not  enter  here.  Even  with  private 
ownership  the  rule  in  the  United  States,   tliere  is 


52  llmprowment  of  ^owns  anD  Cities 


evident  with  us  no  niggardliness  in  this  respect. 
Like  Paris,  our  cities  take  unconsciously  the  point 
of  view  regarding  all  the  streets  that  the  authorities 
of  Berlin  had  occasion  to  put  into  words  some  years 
ago  regarding  the  Unter  den  Linden.  The  ques- 
tion had  arisen  as  to  whether  that  thoroughfare, 
which  had  previously  been  poorly  lighted,  should 
be  provided  with  improved  gas  jets  or  with  electric- 
ity—  the  latter  being  the  more  expensive.  The 
authorities  decided  in  favor  of  electricity,  accom- 
panying the  decision  with  an  explanation  which 
declared,  among  other  things,  that  the  street  de- 
served it  as  a  "  popular  promenade,"  for  its  "  £es- 
thetic  import,"  and  because  it  was  "  the  centre  of 
festal  joy  on  all  holidays."  So  the  proper  tend- 
ency is  increasingly  toward  regard  for  the  street 
not  merely  as  a  passage  of  communication,  but,  in 
at  least  leading  thoroughfares,  as  a  Salon  de  Re- 
union, a  Salon  des  Fetes,  to  be  made  as  bright 
and  gay  at  night  when  work  is  done  as  it  is  con- 
venient by  day.  This  is  a  long  step  in  aesthetic 
progress.  The  original  conception  of  street  light- 
ing classed  it  as  merely  incidental  to  police  service, 
as  a  means  to  public  safety. 

If  a  few  practical  and  elementary  steps  in  city 
building  have  seemed  to  require  here  an  undue 
space,  and  if  it  is  thought  that  bridges,  paving, 
cleaning,  and  lighting  might  be  taken  for  granted, 
let  it  be  said  in  extenuation  that  in  just  these  things 
is  the  triumph  of  the  modern  city,  is  the  basis  of 
the  belief  that  when  it  shall  wake  to  artistic  con- 


vibc  JElemcntacg  CoiiiJtruction  53 


sciousness,  and  arouse  itself  fully  to  artistic  effort, 
it  will  surpass  any  city  that  has  ever  been.  For 
indispensable  as  these  things  now  seem  to  city 
beauty,  they  have  not  always  appeared  so. 

Mommscn,  in  speaking  of  the  Rome  of  Julius 
Caesar,  whom  he  calls  "  the  sole  creative  genius 
produced  by  Rome  and  the  last  produced  by  the 
ancient  world,"  says:  "  Nothing  was  done  for  the 
regulation  of  the  Tiber,  excepting  that  they  caused 
the  only  bridge,  with  which  they  still  made  shift, 
to  be  constructed  of  stone  at  least  as  far  as  the 
Tiber  island.  As  little  was  done  toward  the  level- 
ling of  the  city  on  the  seven  hills,  except  where 
perhaps  the  accumulation  of  rubbish  had  effected 
some  improvement.  The  streets  ascended  and  de- 
scended narrow  and  angular,  and  were  wretchedly 
kept;  the  footpaths  were  small  and  ill-paved. 
The  ordinary  houses  were  built  of  bricks  negli- 
gently, and  to  a  giddy  height.  .  .  .  Like 
isolated  islands  amidst  this  sea  of  wretched  build- 
ings were  seen  the  splendid  palaces  of  the  rich." 
That  is  the  noble  Rome  to  which  C?esar  came,  and 
which  he  tried  to  improve  somewhat  by  requiring 
householders  to  put  the  streets  in  repair  and  to 
pave  their  footpaths  with  hewn  blocks,  and  by 
issuing  "  appropriate  enactments  regarding  the 
carrying  of  litters  and  the  driving  of  wagons, 
which,  from  the  nature  of  the  streets,  were  only 
allowed  to  move  freely  through  the  capital  in  the 
evening  and  by  night."  And  crossing  the  long 
line  of  centuries,  to  the  greatest  city  of  modern 
times,  we  find  this  said  of  London,  by  Dr.  Shaw: 


54 


llinpcopcmeut  ot  ^owiis  anD  Cities 


"  Underground  sewers  were  entirely  unknown  in 
London  until  1S31,  and  they  were  not  numerous 
or  extensive  in  1855.  Not  a  single  l:<.rge  under- 
ground main  had  been  constructed  at  this  last 
date.  Such  as  they  were,  the  sewer  and  drainage 
ditches  poured  their  pollution  directly  into  the 
Thames  at  frequent  intervals  on  both  banks,  and 
at  times  the  river  was  so  befouled  and  clogged  with 
filth  that  navigation  was  obstructed. 
There  was  not  in  all  London  at  that  time  a  good 
pavement,  nor  a  broad,  convenient  thoroughfare." 
If  we  have  changed  all  this,  if  we  have  gone  to  first 
principles  and  have  learned  to  consider  essential 
what  was  so  considered  in  no  great  city  of  the  past, 
surely  we  have  won  a  great  victory  for  civic  beauty 
and  splendor.  And  we  have  won  it  so  recently 
that  we  may  still  be  pardoned  for  talking  of  it. 


CHAPTER   IV 

SUPPRESSION    AND    REPRESSION 

AS  we  trace  the  rise  of  the  effort  toward  fairer 
cityhood,  it  is  clear  that  we  cross  an  import- 
ant line  when  we  pass  from  the  group  of  creative 
enterprises,  in  the  elementary  construction,  to 
those  that  are  repressive.  In  the  building  of 
bridges,  in  the  paving,  cleaning,  and  lighting  of 
streets,  thoughts  of  urban  beauty  are,  or  easily 
may  be,  incidental  to  other  desires.  In  the  burial 
of  wires,  in  the  suppression  of  smoke,  in  certain 
building  regulations,  and  in  the  control  of  adver- 
tisements, civic  aesthetics,  if  still  an  incidental 
motive,  are  not  as  obviously  so.  Now  and  again 
they  rise  to  such  equality  with  the  demands  of 
public  safety,  health,  or  comfort,  as  to  be  given 
even  a  like  importance  in  all  pleas  for  these  im- 
provements. We  have  passed  from  a  group  in 
which  regard  for  municipal  art  is  by  general  con- 
sent a  subordinate  factor,  to  one  in  which  it  may 
stand  at  the  head  of  the  column. 

Of  these  various  restrictive  measures,  the  burial 
of  wires  is  perhaps  done  least  obviously  with  the 
£esthetic  intent.     And  yet,  clear  as  is  the  menace 

55 


56        fmpropement  of  ^Tovvns  anD  Ctties 


of  their  web  in  case  of  fire,  or  the  danger  of  elec- 
tric shock  as  long  as  "  live  "  wires  are  where  an 
accident  may  toss  them  to  the  street,  these  real 
perils  are  referred  to  no  more  commonly  than  is 
the  detraction  of  their  mesh  to  city  beauty.  The 
problem  is  one  that  has  arisen  lately  with  the  elec- 
tric light  and  fire  alarm,  the  telegraph,  telephone, 
and  trolley,  and  it  is  highly  to  the  credit  of  build- 
ers of  cities  that  the  first  rush  to  overhead  construc- 
tion was  checked  as  promptly  as  it  was.  The 
municipality,  in  the  old  world  or  the  new,  that 
does  not  own  a  subway  in  at  least  its  business  sec- 
tion, or  insist  upon  subway  construction  as  a  con- 
dition to  the  private  corporation's  franchise,  is 
already  out  of  date. 

The  time  when  there  was  most  reason  to  dread 
overhead  wire  construction  in  cities  undoubtedly 
went  by  with  the  popular  amazement  at  the  inven- 
tions; now  that  we  take  the  latter  as  a  matter  of 
course,  the  beauty  of  streets  has  little  to  fear  from 
the  planting  of  poles  and  the  stringing  of  wires. 
Even  the  persistent  threat  of  the  overhead  trolley 
is  less  positive  since  the  underground  system  is 
proved  practical,  and  in  the  meantime  brackets  on 
the  buildings  are  sometimes  substituted  for  trolley 
poles.  In  residence  sections,  where  wire  conduits 
are  not  always  practicable,  public  service  wires  are 
now  often  carried  in  alleys  or  along  the  back 
lines  of  the  lots. 

Municipal  vigilance  is  not  yet,  of  course,  all  it 
should  be,  especially  in  outlying  areas.  But  the 
trend  seems  to  be  in  the  right  direction.     A  city  is 


SupprcBSiou  aiiD  "Kepresalon  57 


now  held  most  progressive  when  it  shows  the  fewest 
wires,  not  when  it  presents  their  greatest  network. 

In  solving  problems  of  smoke  suppression  the  ad- 
vance is  not  so  plain,  either  in  the  United  States 
or  in  England.  How  largely  this  may  be  due  to 
lack  of  popular  confidence  in  the  complete  efficiency 
of  any  "  consumer  "  in  the  market  would  be  an  in- 
teresting question.  Probably  that  factor  is  import- 
ant. Were  we  sure  that  the  smoke  nuisance  could 
be  suppressed  as  certainly  as  the  overhead  wire 
evil,  and  at  a  permanent  loss  to  the  manufacturers 
no  greater  than  that  involved  by  the  installation  of 
a  consuming  plant,  we  should  probably  insist  that 
it  be  suppressed  with  at  least  the  eagerness  that  we 
demand  the  burial  of  the  wires.  On  paper,  in- 
deed, the  latter  demand  seems  far  the  greater. 
But  when  the  question  narrows  itself,  in  popular 
opinion,  to  an  insistence  upon  smoke  consumers 
that  do  not  fully  consume,  or  to  complete  prohibi- 
tion of  the  creation  of  smoke  when  there  is  a  notion 
that  smoke  means  industry — with  the  certainty  that 
industry  means  wealth  and  wealth  means  civic  pro- 
gress— municipal  art  is  apt  to  be  over-indulgent  to 
one  of  its  greatest  foes.  A  city  suffers  pennants  of 
black  smoke  to  fly  from  its  tall  chimneys  much  as 
a  national  flag  of  bad  design  and  homely  color  may 
be  used  for  "  decoration,"  not  because  it  has  or 
can  lend  beauty,  but  because  it  stands  for  various 
pleasant  things  of  a  different  sort. 

That  position  is  taken  very  commonly.      In  one 
of  the  most  progressive  cities  in  the  United  States 


58  Umprovcment  et  XTowns  ano  cities 


the  question  of  smoke  suppression  was  agitated 
earnestly  in  1898  by  a  few  citizens  who  had  the 
beauty  of  the  city  at  heart.  There  was  an  ordi- 
nance on  the  subject,  but  its  provisions  were  not 
enforced.  In  the  height  of  the  discussion  a  con- 
servative newspaper,  which  is  usually  on  the  side 
of  real  progress,  came  out  with  the  leading  editorial 
devoted  to  this  subject.  The  caption  of  the  article 
was,  "  Watch  our  Smoke!  "  and  the  article  began: 

"  The  good  people  of  B are  anxious  to  make 

it  an  object  for  manufacturers  to  invest  and  operate 
here.  They  will  stand  any  amount  of  smoke  if  it 
comes  from  chimneys  of  buildings  where  men  and 
women  are  earning  good  wages,"  The  agitation 
failed. 

When  one  considers  the  simple  directness  of  such 
appeals,  and  the  weight  of  personal  influence 
brought  to  bear  in  their  behalf  in  council  chamber, 
in  social  circles,  in  the  newspapers  themselves,  by 
those  to  whom  the  difference  between  soft  and  hard 
coal  may  mean  business  existence,  wonder  ceases 
that  the  progress  has  yet  been  so  little.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  however,  few  manufacturing  communi- 
ties where  the  smoke  nuisance  has  existence,  in  the 
United  States  or  in  England,  lack  a  restrictive 
ordinance.'  Sometimes  it  requires  the  use  of  an 
officially  approved  smoke  consumer.  Sometimes 
it  attempts  a  pitiful  compromise  by  designating  a 
certain  number  of  minutes  in  each  hour  during 
which  black  smoke  will  be  suffered  to  pour  from 
the  chimneys.     But  the  trouble  is  not  so  much  with 

'  An  interesting  State  law  was  adopted  in  Missouri  in  1901. 


Suppression  anO  IRcpresslon  59 


the  nominal  reciuirements  of  the  ordinance  as  with 
its  enforcement.'  Even  when,  as  during  several 
recent  years  in  a  suburb  of  Manchester,  England, 
some  public-spirited  citizen  repeatedly  brings  suit 
to  enforce  the  law  in  a  particular  case,  the  penalty 
imposed  is  inadequately  small.  The  manufacturer 
pays  the  fine  willingly  as  the  price  of  continuing  his 
use  of  the  cheaper  coal.  Under  such  circum- 
stances the  reformer  finds  his  task  expensive  and 
discouraging. 

Nevertheless,  voluntary  societies  for  the  abate- 
ment of  the  smoke  nuisance  do  appear  in  various 
cities,  and  societies  of  general  purpose,  like  the 
Citizens'  Association  of  Chicago,  take  it  up  as  a 
portion  of  their  work,  in  interesting  evidence  of 
their  conscientiousness  and  courage.  There  is  a 
strong  society  for  the  purpose  in  New  York,  and  in 
London  at  the  end  of  1898  a  Coal  Smoke  Abate- 
ment Society  was  organized  under  the  presidency 

'  A  good  illustration  of  the  insincerity  of  many  of  the 
ordinances  on  this  subject  is  afforded  by  the  applicable  sec- 
tions (23,  24)  of  the  London  Public  Health  Act,  1S91.  These 
make  it  unlawful  to  use  any  furnace  which  is  not  so  con- 
structed as  to  consume  its  own  smoke,  or  negligently  to  use 
such  a  furnace,  imposing  a  fine  of  £^  on  conviction  for  a  first 
offence  and  doubling  the  fine  for  each  successive  conviction. 
Then  the  ordinance  explains  that  the  words,  "  consume  or 
burn  the  smoke"  shall  not  mean  "consume  or  burn  all  the 
smoke,"  and  the  fine  may  be  remitted  if  the  magistrate  con- 
siders that  the  offender  has  so  constructed  his  furnace  as  to 
consume  or  burn,  as  far  as  possible,  all  the  smoke  arising 
from  such  furnace  ;  and  has  carefully  attended  to  the  same, 
and  consumed  or  burned,  as  far  as  possible,  the  smoke  arising 
from  such  furnace.     (Sul)-section  4.) 


6o  flmprcivcmcnt  of  tTowns  an5  Cities 

of  Sir  W.  B.  Richmond.  It  started  with  a  long 
list  of  titled  names  on  its  committee.  Its  purpose 
is  to  enforce  the  existing  laws  and  to  secure  more 
stringent  measures,  to  learn  what  is  done  in  other 
cities  to  abate  the  nuisance,  and  finally,  and  this 
perhaps  is  its  wisest  move,  it  seeks  to  promote  the 
knowledge  of  methods  by  which  smoke  can  be  pre- 
vented and  to  encourage  such  preventive  inventions 
by  prizes  and  exhibitions.  In  furtherance  of  this 
object  it  has  awarded  certificates  and  medals  that 
are  eagerly  competed  for  in  the  Building  Trades 
exhibit.  In  addition,  the  society  furnishes  printed 
blanks  of  complaint,  which  any  individual  may  fill 
out  and  send  to  the  authorities  of  his  vestry  de- 
claring that  on  such  and  such  occasions,  giving 
day  and  hour,  he  has  seen  black  smoke  issuing 
from  a  designated  chimney.  It  is  conceivable  that 
a  number  of  such  complaints  might  move  vestry 
officials  to  action,  even  without  interference  by 
the  society.  There  are  other  associations  in  other 
places,  but  their  work,  on  similar  lines,  is  always 
difficult.  And  the  greater  the  need  for  it  the  more 
difficult  it  is.      Yet  sjnoke  meatis  waste. 

Increase  in  the  use  of  electrical  energy  suggests 
that  in  time  this  invisible  power  may  relieve  cities 
of  a  pall  of  smoke,  or  it  may  be  that  an  invention 
which  fully  consumes  will  some  day  be  born  of  the 
necessity  now  so  evident.  Meanwhile,  it  would 
seem  that  the  only  hope  was  in  the  long,  slow 
course  of  education.  Yet  the  evil  of  dense  smoke, 
its  injury  not  merely  to  the  exteriors  of  all  build- 
ings in  the  city,  and  to  the  vegetation  in  park  and 


Gupprc6Bion  anO  TRepreesion  6i 


garden,  but  the  harm  which  it  does  to  health,  to 
clotliing,  books,  pictures,  furniture,  all  household 
decorations,  and  exhibited  wares,  seems  so  obvious, 
that  one  would  think  no  other  instruction  than  that 
of  the  senses  necessary.  If  the  extra  expense  im- 
posed on  a  community  by  its  smoke  could  be 
accurately  measured,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the 
aggregate,  to  which  every  member  would  contribute 
something,  would  far  exceed  the  saving  that  is 
made  by  submission  to  the  nuisance. 

The  position  has  been  taken  by  some  of  the 
champions  of  a  purer  atmosphere,  and  by  some  of 
the  sellers  of  bituminous  coal,  that  the  instruction 
which  will  give  the  best  result  is  in  the  proper 
building  and  care  of  fires.  No  doubt  negligence 
and  ignorance  do  make  the  evil  worse  than  it  might 
otherwise  be,  but  it  is  improbable  that  the  reformer 
is  fitted  to  give  many  points  to  experienced  firemen 
regarding  the  care  of  their  boilers.  In  fact,  dread- 
ful as  the  evil  has  now  become  in  such  communities 
as  Pittsburg,  Sheffield,  Manchester,  or  Birmingham, 
it  would  seem  that  there  was  so  little  ground  to  look 
for  its  immediate  reform — with  better  transporta- 
tion facilities  and  sharper  economic  competition, 
the  nuisance  is  stated  to  be  gaining  rather  than 
losing — that  perhaps  it  is  well  to  point  out  here  its 
one  aesthetic  virtue.  This  is  the  glorious  brilliancy 
of  the  effects  which  a  soot-laden  atmosphere  some- 
times causes  at  sundown.  It  is  a  pathetically 
small  credit  entry  when  one  considers  the  sufficient 
natural  beauty  of  the  rural  sunset. 

There  is  one  thing  more  to  be  said.     Grant  the 


62  Umprovcmcnt  of  Howiis  aiiD  Cities 


injury  which  volumes  of  dense  black  smoke  pour- 
ing from  factory  chimneys  do  to  all  articles  that 
pretend  to  fine  and  delicate  texture  and  to  beauty, 
and  it  is  clear  that  the  individual  possessor  of  these 
things  Avill  move  them,  when  he  can,  to  a  place 
where  they  will  not  be  thus  hurt.  The  aesthetic 
sensibilities  of  the  community  as  a  whole  are 
doubtless  dulled  in  their  suffrance  of  the  smoke 
outrage;  and  the  individual  who  here  and  there 
retains  his  love  of  beautiful  objects  will  remove 
from  so  positively  injurious  and  unsympathetic 
an  environment  as  soon  as  possible.  Not  many 
months  ago,  for  instance,  the  newspapers  of  New 
York  gleefully  recorded  the  removal,  to  that  city's 
clearer  air,  of  a  Chicago  Croesus,  who  was  de- 
scribed as  having  been  "  for  many  years  a  most 
ardent  and  liberal  collector  of  paintings,  porcelains, 
tapestries,  and  rare  bric-a-brac,"  and  whose  per- 
sonal art  treasures  they  glibly  estimated  at  $r,ooo,- 
coo  value.  He  bought  a  magnificent  town  house 
and  a  place  on  the  Hudson,  and  was  subsequently 
reported  as  saying  over  his  signature  that  the 
"  principal  "  reason  for  his  removal  from  Chicago 
was  his  fear  of  the  permanent  injury  which  the 
smoke  of  that  city  would  cause  to  his  treasures. 
A  Chicago  paper  had  some  weeks  earlier  published 
a  list  of  rich  "  absentees,"  who  were  regularly 
"  spending  their  income  away  from  the  city  in 
which  it  was  earned."  The  total  of  principal  was 
put  at  ^130,000,000.  However  little  faith  be  put 
in  the  figures,  it  is  clear  from  both  stories  that  the 
direct  monetary  loss  in  this  way  may  be  very  large; 


Siunnes^^ion  anO  TRcpression  63 

and  that  even  worse  is  the  accompanying  loss  in 
artistic  treasures  and  in  the  social  worth  and 
culture  which  properly  belong  to  the  city.  With 
the  rapid  growth  in  the  Uni-ted  States  of  a  leisure 
class,  free  to  choose  its  place  of  residence,  this 
consideration  is  likely  to  become  of  increased  im- 
portance. So  more  than  municipal  aesthetics  is  at 
stake.  There  is  a  danger  to  the  higher  life.  "  The 
city  beautiful  "  may  be  marred  by  smoke  in  a  sense 
spiritual  as  well  as  in  the  sense  material. 

Of  all  building  regulations,  those  that  are  adopted 
purely  with  a  view  to  municipal  aesthetics  are  com- 
paratively few  and  simple.  They  are  based  on  the 
principle  that  it  is  as  proper  to  curb  the  freedom 
of  the  individual  for  the  good  of  the  community 
in  matters  of  public  art  as  it  is  in  those  of  public 
health  or  safety.  Accordingly  they  undertake  to 
limit  the  height  of  all  structures  (generally  hygienic 
considerations  are  involved  in  this  requirement),  to 
secure  in  their  appearance  some  degree  of  harmony 
with  their  neighbors,  and  then  to  recjuire  the  plans 
for  the  public  buildings  to  receive  the  approval  of 
artists. 

In  Europe  such  rules,  nearly  all  of  recent  adop- 
tion, are  much  more  common  than  in  the  United 
States.  Paris,  Berlin,  Rome,  Vienna,  and  many 
smaller  cities,  have  adopted  regulations  for  the  ex- 
ternal appearance  of  their  buildings  as  naturally  as 
for  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  structures.  They 
have  usually  considered  street  reforms  of  small  ac- 
count if  not  supplemented  by  such  requirements. 


64  Umprovement  of  Cowiis  an&  Cities 


In  Paris  these  rules  fix  the  maximum  height  of 
facades  at  20  metres  (65^^  feet),  determine  the 
number  of  stories,  and  compel  private  builders  to 
observe,  in  the  words  of  the  law,  the  "  i-accorde- 
inent  et  V harmonie  des  lignes  de  constn4ctio7i  "  of 
their  street.  The  result  on  the  newer  thorough- 
fares is  undoubtedly  monotonous,  but  the  eye 
travels  down  the  long  vista  of  street  without  dis- 
traction of  its  enjoyment.  A  little  less  insistence 
upon  details  would  perhaps  secure  the  same  result 
with  more  variety  of  architecture,  and  the  tendency 
of  the  moment  seems  to  appreciate  that.  The  Paris 
law  requires  also  that  the  buildings  be  kept  neat 
and  fresh  in  appearance  by  periodical  repair  or 
repainting.  In  other  words,  visible  deterioration 
of  a  piece  of  property  is  held  not  to  be  a  personal 
matter  with  the  owner,  for  it  depreciates  values  in 
its  neighborhood.  It  also  concerns  the  whole  com- 
munity as  a  blot  upon  the  city's  attractiveness. 
Application  of  the  same  theories  is  found  in  other 
cities.  In  Belgium,  where  the  communal  law  does 
not  explicitly  impose  the  power  of  aesthetic  criti- 
cism upon  the  council,  a  question  on  lines  some- 
what similar  was  taken  into  the  courts.  The  law 
required  that  building  plans  should  be  approved  by 
the  municipal  authorities.  A  plan  which  was  sub- 
mitted showed  a  blank  wall  to  the  street,  and  the 
city  council  directed  that  on  this  account  it  be 
modified.  The  intending  builder  doubted  its  right 
to  enforce  an  aesthetic  request  and  took  the  matter 
to  the  Court  of  Appeal.  He  declared  that  the  coun- 
cil's command  was  justified   on   no  consideration 


\ 


Suppression  anO  IReprcssioii  65 


of  health,  convenience,  safety,  or  availability, 
and  was  therefore  unwarranted.  The  judgment  of 
the  court  (June  20,  1890)  was  that  the  council  had 
the  right  to  demand  "  correspondence  with  the 
site,"  and  consequently  to  prescribe  style. 

In  Rome  the  building  regulations  adopted  in 
1887  are  very  explicit.  They  fix  the  limit  of  build- 
ing height  proportionate  to  the  width  of  the  street 
(which  is  becoming  a  rather  common  method),  de- 
claring that  the  height  of  a  structure  must  not  ex- 
ceed one  and  one  half  times  the  width  of  the  street 
upon  which  it  fronts,  with  a  proviso  that  the  maxi- 
mum height  shall  not  be  over  24  metres  (78!  feet), 
nor  the  minimum  under  14  (45I  feet).  The  style, 
material,  and  other  matters  of  appearance  are  also 
subject  to  official  surveillance.  Vienna  supple- 
ments building  rules  that  are  strict  from  the  sanitary 
point  of  view  with  explicit  requirements  regarding 
street  lines,  balconies,  height,  and  general  harmony 
of  appearance;  but  here,  again,  there  is  now  some 
relaxation  in  nonessentials  or  on  minor  streets,  so 
that  greater  variety  may  appear.  Birmingham  is 
representative  of  a  curious  English  law.  This 
regulates  the  height  of  buildings  by  asserting  that 
the  owner  of  any  premises  is  entitled  to  such  light 
as  would  come  to  the  lower  windows  of  his  building 
if  a  line  drawn  upward  from  the  edge  of  his  prem- 
ises at  an  angle  of  45  degrees  met  with  no  resist- 
ance. If  the  opposite  structure,  therefore,  should 
rob  him  of  a  portion  of  that  light  he  can  bring  suit, 
and  he  is  likely  to  be  awarded  either  a  regular 
rental  per  window  for  light  lost  or  a  lump  sum  in 


66  1Improx>einent  ot  Cowns  anD  Cities 


relinquishment  of  his  rights.  It  is  said  that  the 
plan,  which  leaves  the  initiative  with  individuals 
rather  than  with  the  city,  does  not  work  very  well, 
as  each  separate  case  requires  separate  decision. 
Still,  Birmingham  is  without  very  tall  buildings,  so 
that  to  an  American  at  least  the  influence  of  the 
law  seems  to  be  wholesomely  restrictive. 

In  Germany,  an  interesting  device  is  found  in  the 
zoning  system.  This  divides  the  possible  building 
territory  into  districts,  and  then  prescribes  for  each 
the  sort  of  structure  that  may  be  there  erected. 
Thus,  in  the  district  where  detached  villas  are  to 
be,  it  is  made  illegal  for  any  one  to  destroy  the 
charm  of  the  neighborhood  by  constructing  a  tall 
apartment  house.  The  plan  has  obviously  many 
objections,  though  it  is  not  without  sesthetic  merits. 
A  modification  of  this  theory  has  lately  appeared, 
too,  in  the  United  States,  in  the  opinion  that  a 
residential  street  or  district  should  be  protected 
from  invasion  by  business  or  manufacturing  if  a 
certain  percentage  of  the  affected  property-owners 
protest.  In  a  resolution  to  this  effect  which  was 
presented  to  the  Common  Council  of  Rochester, 
1899-1900,  were  these  words:  "  It  is  inequitable, 
as  often  happens  to  sections  of  our  city  which 
have  achieved  a  '  trade-mark  '  of  special  value  by 
reason  of  residential  unity  and  beauty,  to  have 
some  vandal  destroy  such  special  value  upon  the 
plea  that  '  he  has  a  right  to  do  as  he  likes  with  his 
own  property.'  " 

The    accepted    building    regulation,     however, 
which   is   based    upon  purely  sesthetic  grounds  is 


Suppression  anO  IReprcsslon  67 


stiU  rare  in  the  United  States.  One  conspicuous 
re:-\lt  of  its  rarity  can  be  seen  in  the  incongruity 
of  -irban  architecture.  The  owner  treats  the  archi- 
tect as  his  employee,  not  as  his  professional  master. 
As  a  consequence,  successive  houses  on  any  street 
may  represent  Gothic,  Classic,  Renaissance,  Colon- 
ial, Queen  Anne,  and  unnamable  modifications  of 
these  styles.  The  architect  has  meekly  followed 
the  owner's  wishes.  There  is  a  fine  representation 
of  the  whims  of  tasteless,  egotistic  wealth,  the 
stamp  of  untrained  individualism.  There  is  no 
repose,  no  communal  expression,  no  dignified  and 
epoch-marking  work,  little  imagination.  A  muni- 
cipal requirement  of  harmony  has  at  least  the  merit 
of  enforcing  the  lesson  of  obligation  to  the  com- 
munity, and  of  giving  to  the  architect  that  master- 
ship which  is  his  right. 

There  has  been  talk,  but  little  more  than  that,  of 
one  commendable  project.  This  is  to  give  to  the 
city  control  over  buildings  facing  upon  park  prop- 
erty. The  purpose  is  that  the  large  parks,  gener- 
ally secured  on  a  city's  outskirts,  may  be  saved  from 
a  border,  on  any  side,  of  shabbiness  and  squalor. 
The  need  is  only  temporary,  as  city  growth  shortly 
makes  the  property  with  park-frontage  most  valu- 
able, and  doubtless  it  is  realization  that  the  evil 
will  so  soon  disappear  which  has  prevented  much 
affirmative  action. 

In  this  line  of  restrictive  effort,  however,  even 
the  movement  with  us,  lately  become  widespread 
and  promising,  to  check  the  "  sky-scraper's  "  up- 
ward flight  may  be  traced  in  large  part  to  hygienic 


68  flmprovcment  of  ^owns  anD  Cities 


considerations.  There  has  been  such  abuse  of  the 
ability  to  build  high  that  the  injury  makes  a  broad 
appeal  for  correction.  Until  this  kind  of  construc- 
tion was  overdone  and  the  very  tall  building  invaded 
the  narrow  street  where  it  had  no  business,  where 
it  could  command  no  appreciation  for  itself  and 
changed  a  thoroughfare  into  a  sunless  chasm,  it 
could  make  some  claim  to  indulgence.  Many  con- 
siderations render  it  impossible  to  assert  an  arbi- 
trary limit  which  might  be  forgiven;  but  plainly 
the  structure  of  ten  or  twelve  stories  could  be  suf- 
fered where  the  building  of  thirty  stories,  on 
however  broad  a  square,  could  be  only  a  public 
calamity.  Until  they  were  so  ridiculously  over- 
done, the  sky-scrapers  made,  then,  a  certain  crude, 
barbaric  claim  even  to  aesthetic  liking.  For,  sil- 
houetted against  the  brilliant  sky  of  midday  or  of 
twilight,  they  had  a  poster-like  dash  and  daring  of 
artistic  merit;  or  lifting  their  heads  serene  and 
calm  into  the  very  storm-clouds,  or  fading  in  mist 
till  their  upper  lines  were  almost  lost,  they  gave 
substance  to  a  poetry  as  clearly  and  fittingly  dra- 
matic as  the  pure  architectural  poems  of  ancient 
Greece  were  lyric.  And  again,  at  night,  their 
dark  fayades  all  gemmed  with  lights  until  they 
seemed  a  bit  of  firmament  tipped  on  end,  they 
imparted  to  the  municipality,  in  one  way  and 
another,  a  beauty  all  the  better  because  so  charac- 
teristic. And  through  it  all  one  could  see  exem- 
plified American  industrial  courage  and  aspiration. 
It  was  as  though  these  tall  structures,  breaking 
with  their  various  reasonable  heights  the  sky-line 


Suppression  an&  IRcprcsslon  69 

of  the  street,  wrote  upon  its  facade,  themselves  like 
notes,  the  music  of  the  march  of  industry,  energy, 
and  hope. 

But  we  have  now  gone  too  far.     The  music  is  all 
jar  and  discord,  and  the  hymn  that  is  sung  by  the 
people  below  is  not  of  praise,  but  pity;  so  at  last 
ordinances  are  appearing  to  check  the  tall  building 
with  us  as  it  has  been  checked  abroad.     No  doubt 
the  congestion  of  the  street  and  of  transportation 
facilities  which  has  resulted   from   the  tall  build- 
ing is  inducing  this  action  quite  as  much  as   are 
aesthetic  considerations.     Indeed,  the  liberality  of 
the  various  limits   imposed    by  our  ordinances   is 
assurance  that  this  peculiarity  of  American  urban 
architecture  is  to  linger.    There  is  to  be  repression, 
not  suppressioii.'     And  perhaps,   if  we  can  frame 
an  ordinance  demanding  regard  for  scale,  this  is 
best,  since  the  tall  building  which  America  invented 
is  so   clearly   an   expression   of    its    own    peculiar 
Zeitgeist.       Nor   need  we    fear  lest   beauty   hold 
aloof  from  structures  that  pass  a  hundred  feet  in 
height.     The  steel  skeleton  construction  gives  free 
hand  to  the  architect  in  the  facade,  and  art  must 
find  in  it  a  worthy  theme. 

Just  here  should  be  mentioned  an  interesting 
event  in  the  field  of  building  regulation  in  the 
United  States,  one  of  significance.  This  is  the 
discussion  which,  after  many  months,  resulted  in  a 
special  statute  limiting  to  a  height  of  ninety  feet 
the  buildings  on  Copley  Square,  in  Boston.  The 
moving  considerations  were  almost  entirely  aes- 
thetic, so  the  story  is  pertinent.  The  "  square  " 
•  Vd.  note,  pg.  299. 


70  llmprovemcnt  ot  ^owns  anD  Cittcs 


was  a  triangle  of  grass,  unadorned  and  plain,  but 
facing  upon  it,  on  each  side,  were  buildings  beau- 
tiful in  themselves  and  noble  in  what  they  stood 
for,  and  for  this  character  the  area  was  dear  to 
Boston.  Some  individuals  planned  to  erect  there 
a  tall  apartment  house,  that  should  dwarf  Trinity 
Church  and  the  Public  Library,  and  the  commu- 
nity rose  in  protest.  Obviously,  a  proposition  to 
restrict  the  building  rights  more  in  one  part  of  the 
city  than  in  another  would  arouse  violent  antago- 
nism. A  war  that  revealed  an  unsuspected  interest 
in  sky-lines  and  architectural  harmony  was  waged 
in  the  editorial  and  correspondence  departments 
of  the  newspapers,  and  wrote  its  record  on  a 
largely  signed  petition.  The  point  was  made  that 
to  guarantee  the  preservation  of  the  beauty  of  a 
neighborhood,  by  legislation  that  is  prohibitive  to 
inharmonious  construction  there,  is  to  add  to  the 
value  of  the  ground  at  least  as  much  as  the  pro- 
posed restriction  in  building  height  could  take 
away.  The  statute  was  enacted,  and  when  its  op- 
ponents tested  the  matter  in  the  courts,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State  handed  down  a  decision  '  fully 
supporting  the  restrictions.  The  strictly  urban 
character  of  the  space,  its  almost  incidental  pos- 
session of  beauty,  and  the  aesthetic  grounds  upon 
which  the  affirmative  argument  was  successfully 
placed,  make  the  instance  as  notable  as  it  was  sug- 
gestive. 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  a  street  can  be  as 

'October  30,   1S99.     Confirmed  by  U,  S.  Supreme  Court, 
Welch  vs.  Swasey. 


5iHH>rc63toii  aiiD  1Rcprc65loii  71 


certainly  degraded  by  that  which  passes  up  and 
down  it,  regularly  or  irregularly,  as  by  that  which 
is  fixed  with  more  or  less  permanence  on  its  edge. 
In  the  city  with  conscious  and  earnest  aspirations 
toward  urban  beauty  there  will  be  a  vigilance  in 
behalf  of  the  dignity  of  the  public  way  that  will 
scrutinize  the  trafific  as  well  as  the  fa9ades. 

In  the  streets  of  Paris,  a  few  years  ago,  there  ap- 
peared a  cab  of  most  extraordinary  design.  It  was 
very  high,  evidently  of  great  age,  and  very  ugly. 
The  officials  watched  its  course  for  a  little  while 
and  then  ordered  its  retirement.  All  Paris  is  said 
to  have  approved  of  the  command.  Yet  more  re- 
cently in  Washington  the  police  department  began 
a  crusade  against  disreputable  vehicles  offered 
there  for  public  hire.  The  carriages  were  con- 
demned and  their  owners  fined.  In  commenting 
upon  the  matter  a  local  newspaper  asserted  that 
the  prayers  of  all  good  citizens  would  be  with  those 
engaged  "  in  so  laudable  an  undertaking." 

Doubtless  there  can  be  traced  a  connection  be- 
tween good  pavements  and  ramshackle  vehicles. 
The  very  smoothness  of  the  public  way,  which 
makes  the  maintenance  of  unsightly  and  rickety 
carriages  inexcusable,  is  yet  the  explanation  of 
their  survival.  The  vehicle  that  would  be  knocked 
to  pieces  on  one  of  the  old-time  rough  pavements 
would  be  good  for  several  years'  service  on  Wash- 
ington's miles  of  asphalt.  Thus  with  better  pave- 
ments there  is  needed  a  keener  vigilance  regarding 
the  appearance  of  the  carriages  which  are  driven 
upon  them. 


72  flmprorement  of  ^owne  anD  Cities 


A  word  should  perhaps  be  said  here  of  the  efforts 
to  suppress  unnecessary  noise  in  cities.  The  right 
of  the  community  to  curb  the  individual  in  this  re- 
spect may  be  assumed,  because  it  is  asserted  in  so 
many  ordinances  and  so  widely.  The  excuse  is 
usually,  and  very  properly,  hygienic.  To  forbid 
the  carrying  of  iron  beams  through  city  streets 
unless  they  be  so  wrapped  that  they  make  no  noise 
when  jolted,  is  unquestionably  to  safeguard  the 
public  nerves.  But  incidentally  it  makes  for  peace 
in  the  city  beautiful.  The  ordinances  are  often  ex- 
tended to  apply  to  itinerant  brass  bands;  in  Chicago 
and  Detroit,  among  other  places,  there  have  been 
successful  crusades  against  steam  whistles;  in  Paris 
the  little  boats  on  the  Seine  can  carry  no  whistles, 
and  ring  their  bells  only  under  exceptional  circum- 
stances; a  few  societies  for  the  suppression  of 
street  noises  have  been  started;  and  in  Boston  the 
city  Music  Commission  is  charged,  among  other 
things,  with  seeing  that  the  hurdy-gurdies  and 
hand-organs  are  in  tune.  Every  year  there  is  a 
solemn  examination  of  all  these  instruments,  when 
each  applicant  for  a  license  plays  his  best.  If  his 
instrument  is  not  in  tune  the  license  is  withheld 
until  the  performer  has  made  an  attempt  to  remedy 
the  trouble.  Then  he  has  a  chance  at  another 
examination.  As  the  popular  ear  is  not  over- 
sensitive in  matters  of  music,  it  may  reasonably  be 
held  that  the  effort  here  is  less  hygienic  than 
aesthetic.  Of  course  city  noise  has  inevitably  in- 
creased with  the  growth  and  congestion  of  trafific,but 
smooth  pavements  and  rubber  tires  are  mechanical 


Suppression  aiiD  IRepresslon  73 


helps  to  greater  quiet;  and  public  sentiment  is 
powerful.  When  the  evil  is  very  bad,  the  enforce- 
ment of  ordinances  will  be  more  strictly  insisted 
upon.  The  City  Improvement  Society  of  New 
York  reports  that  in  1899  a  large  majority  of  the 
whole  number  of  complaints  that  were  filed  with  it 
referred  to  one  subject — noise;  and  this  tendency,  it 
says,  is  becoming  constantly  more  marked.  In  parts 
of  London  theshoutingof  newsboys  has  been  stilled. 

Superficially,  there  is  no  part  of  the  discussion 
of  the  development  of  civic  beauty,  considered 
historically  or  theoretically,  as  discouraging  in  the 
extent  of  its  conquests,  or  as  repellent  to  enthusi- 
asm, as  a  catalogue  of  efforts  in  repression  and 
suppression.  But  there  is  scarcely  any  part  of  the 
effort  more  important.  Until  we  can  clear  the 
street  of  wires,  and  clear  the  air  of  the  black 
smoke's  double  menace  to  the  city's  "  higher 
life  " ;  until  we  secure  some  artistic  sense  in  build- 
ing and  restrain  the  advertiser  from  his  conscience- 
less assault,  we  cannot  hope  for  urban  amenity  and 
may  well  put  dreams  of  beauty  out  of  mind.  Good 
pavements,  kept  clean,  make  it  possible  for  the 
citizen  to  lift  his  eyes;  but  until  repression  and 
suppression  have  done  their  work  there  will  be 
scant  inducement  for  him  to  look  about.  We 
must  have  a  tabula  rasa  for  civic  art. 

But  because  creative  activity  has  always  strongest 
hold  on  the  imagination,  it  is  proof  of  conscien- 
tiousness that  actual  efforts  have  taken  the  repres- 
sive form  as  often  and  as  largely  as  they  have. 
The  communities  for  which  we  have  most  to  fear 


74  ■improvement  of  ITowns  anO  Ctties 


are  those  that  business  has  so  fully  taken  to  itself 
that  they  are  mere  marts,  or  exchanges,  thronged 
by  day  and  emptied  by  night.  They  can  but 
rarely  feel  the  thrill  of  civic  spirit.  The  "  city  " 
in  London  is  an  example;  or  lower  New  York, 
or  Manchester.  Here  the  well-to-do  live  in  the 
suburbs  on  the  outer  rim,  and  the  whole  section — 
without  fashionable  centre — is  given  up  to  trade 
and  manufacture.  In  such  cases  utility  and  econ- 
omy receive  a  disproportionate  measure  of  the 
popular  regard.  Municipal  gesthetics  make  small 
conquest  under  these  conditions,  for  the  first  nega- 
tive steps  are  slighted,  the  drudgery  in  the  reach- 
ing out  for  art  is  scorned — and  drudgery  is  ele- 
mental. A  plebiscitum  would  hardly  approve  a 
smoke  ordinance  there,  for  example,  and  ordi- 
nances that  have  not  popular  support  are  difficult 
to  enforce. 

In  some  ways,  however,  the  repressive  measures 
advocated  in  this  chapter  are  the  highest  fruit  of 
the  growth  of  regard  for  urban  aesthetics.  The 
progress  along  their  lines  is  full,  then,  of  encour- 
agement. It  is  more  significant  than  most  creative 
adornment  could  be,  for  there  is  involved  in  it  an 
element  of  self-denial,  of  self-subordination  for  the 
common  good,  with  results  that  seem  unheroic  only 
because  they  are  negative.  And  these  measures 
have  an  unexpectedly  strong  ally  in  the  require- 
ments of  modern  hygiene  and  sanitation.  The 
burial  of  wires,  the  suppression  of  smoke,  the  regu- 
lation of  building,  are  all  demanded  for  the  physical 
welfare  of  the  citizens;  and  the  plea  for  the  satis- 


Suppression  anO  "Kcpression  75 

faction  of  the  senses,  strong  in  itself,  is  stronger 
because  of  that  demand. 

Discovery  and  invention  have  lately  come  for- 
ward as  singularly  powerful  allies  to  the  effort  for 
city  and  village  beauty.  The  same  help  comes 
from  the  increased  regard  for  human  life.  This 
will  appear  in  other  chapters  as  well  as  here,  for 
the  alliance  is  not  less  for  offensive  than  for  defen- 
sive purposes.  We  shall  see  it  urging  the  setting 
aside  of  parks  and  playgrounds  and  the  planting 
of  trees  as,  in  the  very  planning  of  the  city,  it  in- 
sisted upon  broad  streets  and  then  required  that 
the  streets  be  clean.  Long  ago  cities  were  adorned 
because  their  nobles  were  rich  and  ambitious,  be- 
cause a  prince  thought  thus  to  silence  the  discon- 
tent of  his  subjects  and  add  to  his  own  glory,  or 
because  the  people  loved  art  only  for  art's  sake. 
But  selfishness  was  the  commoner  motive.  For  the 
improvement  of  towns  and  cities  to-day  there  has 
been  added  a  strange  conjunction  of  factors,  mak- 
ing for  their  beauty  on  democratic,  worthier,  and 
more  permanent  lines.  There  is  invention  and  the 
powerful  aid  of  new  ideals  of  hygiene  and  sanita- 
tion, and  to  these  allies  we  shall  find  that  strong  im- 
pulses of  philanthropy  and  education  are  added. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE    ADVERTISEMENT    PROBLEM 


THE  control  of  advertising  on  the  streets  of 
towns  and  cities  is  a  line  of  aesthetic  effort  in 
which  relatively  scant  progress  has  been  made  on 
either  side  of  the  sea.  And  yet  it  is  inconceivable 
that  in  the  growth  of  regard  for  civic  beauty  this 
should  not  be  destined  to  importance.  Already 
private  agitation  in  Great  Britain  and  the  enthu- 
siasm of  some  artists  in  Belgium  have  made  a  stout 
beginning,  while  in  the  general  assumption  of  the 
right  to  official  censure  of  posters  on  moral  grounds 
and  the  common  popular  objection  to  over-street 
banners,  there  is  recognition  that  the  will  of  the 
individual  in  this  matter,  as  in  others,  may  be 
curbed  for  the  general  good. 

Cities  in  the  United  States  have  not  stopped, 
however,  merely  at  this.  They  have  ordinances  de- 
termining the  minimum  height  above  the  sidewalk 
of  projecting  signs.  There  has  been  talk'  of  a  State 
law  forbidding,  as  in  Paris,  any  advertisement  on  a 
tree.  A  rule  that  has  been  recently  adopted  in  Cin- 
cinnati prohibits  the  fixing  of  posters  to  a  fence  en- 
closing building  operations.  The  area  or  height  of 
bill-boards  is  limited,  and  in  some  cities,  as  in  New 
York,  a  law  prevents  the  sign-board  nuisance  in 
'   VJ.  note,  pg.  ■^oo- 


^be  2-lDpertii?cmcnt  iproblcm  77 


proximity  to  any  park.  The  subject  of  such  re- 
striction has  been  in  agitation  also  at  Chicago  and 
in  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  as  affecting  all 
cities  of  that  State.  San  Francisco  has  an  ordinance 
protecting  poles  from  advertising  disfigurement 
and  prescribing  that  signs  on  buildings  shall  not  ex- 
ceed a  height  of  three  feet  and  on  land  of  ten  feet. 
There  has  lately  been  passed  in  Chicago  an  ordi- 
nance requiring  that  no  bill-board  on  a  residence 
street  or  pleasure  drive  shall  be  erected  without  the 
consent  of  three  fourths  of  the  frontage  on  the 
block.  Clearly,  the  principles  involved  are  import- 
ant. Esthetic  considerations  alone  are  concerned. 
In  the  latter  case,  for  instance,  assumed  deprecia- 
tion of  property  can  be  due  only  to  that,  while  in 
the  legislation  concerning  the  neighborhood  of 
parks  the  premise  is  that  huge  and  glaring  signs 
mar  the  appeal  which  the  park's  beauty  is  designed 
to  make.  There  is  abundant  suggestion  for  any 
city  or  village,  then,  in  the  mere  recital  of  these 
ordinances;  and  we  shall  find  that  there  is  required 
no  long  further  step  to  censure  of  all  advertisements 
which  mar  the  beauty  of  boulevard,  avenue,  and 
street,  which  destroy  vistas,  or  ruin  good  fafades. 
From  illustrations  of  various  specific  achievements, 
it  will  be  possible  to  draw  many  hints  as  to  restric- 
tive procedure. 

This  forward  step  has  been  already  taken,  not 
only  in  Chicago,  but  by  confident  workers  for 
municipal  art  in  England  and  in  Belgium.  Thar 
great  national  society,  L'CEuvre  Nationale  Beige, 
in  whose  hands  is  the  movement  for  a  municipal 


78  tnuTOVcment  of  vTowns  ant>  Cities 


artistic  renaissance  in  the  latter  country,  chose  as 
the  special  subject  of  its  crusade  in  1895  the  char- 
acter of  the  advertising  signs  on  the  streets.  Not 
satisfied  with  the  merely  negative  role  of  the  critic, 
it  strove  to  combat,  in  its  own  terms,  "  the  widely 
current  but  false  idea  that  art  is  incompatible  with 
economy  and  the  necessities  of  trade."  But  in  its 
restrictive  operations,  which  need  alone  concern  us 
now,  the  society  succeeded  in  illustrating — with  a 
power  of  conviction  to  which  later  events  have 
borne  witness — the  important  but  strangely  novel  ijj 
contention  that  the  sign  should  be  considered  as  a 
decorative  element  of  the  business  structure.  It 
has  contended  that  if  the  advertisement  fails  in  this 
respect,  ceasing  to  be  a  part  of  the  architectural 
ensemble,  or  to  harmonize  with  the  architecture,  it 
does  only  injury  to  the  building  upon  which  it  is, 
creating  an  ugliness  of  the  public  way  with  no  gain 
in  advantage  from  the  view-point  of  publicity.  On 
the  basis  of  the  appreciation  which  was  secured  for 
this  claim,  the  society  subsequently  urged  that  to 
a  division  of  the  city  government  there  should  be 
given  power  to  prevent  the  desecration  of  good 
streets  or  buildings  by  ugly  signs. 

In  England  the  like  doctrine  has  been  preached 
with  energy  by  the  Society  for  Checking  the  Abuses 
of  Public  Advertising.     Its  efforts  are  as  earnestly         || 
directed  for  the  maintenance  of  civic  dignity  as  to 
prevent  the  defilement  of  rural  beauty.     Since  ad- 
vertisements are  well  known  to  be  its  prey,  it  may         «, 
be  well  to  quote  from  the  society's  prospectus  the        " 
formal  declaration  that  it  "  aims  at  promoting  a 


^be  advertisement  problem  79 


regard  for  dignity  and  propriety  of  aspect  in  towns. " 
Founded  in  1893,  the  organization  has  devoted 
itself  to  efforts  to  secure  restrictive  legislation,  in- 
stead of  to  attempts,  that  must  be  hopeless,  to  sup- 
press of  itself  the  innumerable  violations  of  good 
taste.  In  the  prosecution  of  this  work  it  takes  the 
ground  that  the  instinct  to  be  appealed  to  is  that 
"  of  patriotic  regard  for  the  aspect  of  our  country," 
not  the  desire  of  individuals  to  be  protected  from 
what  they  resent  as  mere  personal  annoyance. 
National  in  scope,  and  assisted  in  many  places  by 
local  improvement  societies  which,  in  that  particu- 
lar line,  become  virtually  branches  of  it,  "  SCAPA" 
(the  Society  for  Checking  the  Abuses  of  Public 
Advertising)  is  able  to  publish  a  long  list  of 
achievements. 

Edinburgh  has  had  for  some  years  a  by-law  pro- 
hibiting sky-signs  —  advertisements  whose  letters, 
standing  clear  of  the  structure's  top,  show  against 
the  sky.  To  this  has  been  added  in  1899  an 
act  which  makes,  the  local  Cockburn  Association 
proudly  claims,  Edinburgh  a  pioneer  in  the  official 
regulation  of  general  advertisements.  It  gives  to 
the  corporation,  as  representative  of  the  commu- 
nity, the  right  to  say  where  advertisements  may  be 
placed,  and  hence  to  prevent  their  erection  where 
they  could  injure  the  attractiveness  of  the  city.  It 
confers  no  power  of  censorship  over  particular 
signs,  the  common  law  being  depended  upon  to 
check  advertisements  of  improper  character.  Glas- 
gow, at  a  sacrifice  of  ;^4ooo  a  year,  determined 
that  the  municipal  trams  should  not  be  disfigured 


8o  IFmprovement  of  ^owns  anO  dltles 


by  advertising,  and  this  rule  has  been  adopted  by 
Liverpool,  Hull,  Sheffield,  and  other  towns.  In 
Manchester,  among  various  cities,  all  hoardings 
belonging  to  the  improvement  committee  are,  by 
order  of  the  council,  kept  free  from  advertise- 
ments, and  many  architects  have  followed  the  city's 
example  in  making  a  like  requirement  of  their  con- 
tractors. London  has  adopted  a  sky-sign  act,  and 
the  County  Council  has  gone  to  the  society  for  the 
draft  of  a  general  sign-regulating  ordinance,  and 
has  banished  advertising  transparencies  from  its 
own  (the  municipal)  trams.  Flashing  electric  signs 
have  been  prohibited  in  various  places.  Girl 
placard-bearers  in  London  were  suppressed  by  the 
moral  force  of  an  aroused  public  opinion.  A  rail- 
road company  was  induced  to  remove  the  maze  of 
advertisements  from  its  station  platforms.  The 
placards  that  once  disfigured  the  pier  at  Eastbourne 
have  been  taken  away;  and  at  Rhyl  the  municipal 
body  refused  to  license  a  theatre  on  a  pier  simply 
because  the  outside  wall  was  let  for  a  huge  soap 
advertisement.  At  Richmond  an  effort  to  secure 
at  an  extravagant  price  the  use  of  an  island  in  the 
river  for  advertising  purposes  was  defeated.  And 
finally  a  petition,  signed  by  more  than  three  hun- 
dred London  architects,  was  presented  in  1899  to 
the  County  Council  begging  action  to  repress  the 
evils  of  monstrous  letter  and  illuminated  adver- 
tising. 

In  making  this  selection  from  a  long  catalogue 
of  achievements,  the  endeavor  has  been  to  choose 
those  only  which  are  typical  or  suggestive.     With 


;rbe  BOvcrtisement  iproblcm  81 


like  effort  we   may   go  beyond   the   reach  of  the 
society,  still  illustrating  how,  in  the  long  campaign 
for  beauty,  new  evils  must  be  met  by  new  aggres- 
siveness.     To    such    advertisement  control    as    is 
officially  exercised,   then,    in   Belgium    and   Great 
Britain,  let  these  instances  be  added:  In  Berlin  the 
president  of  police  has  issued  an  ordinance  pro- 
hibiting advertisements  on  the  outsides,  or  on  the 
windows,  of  public  omnibuses;  and  miscellaneous 
paper  advertisements  in  the  streets  are  allowed  only 
on  boards  or  columns  especially  prepared  for  the 
purpose.     In  the  little  Dutch  city  of  Leiden  the 
municipality  itself  manages  the  public  advertising, 
and  so  frees  the  picturesque,  canal-cut  streets  from 
unkempt  hoardings.     The  city  erects  at  the  prin- 
cipal corners  and  by  the  canal  bridges  boards  of 
neat  and  attractive  design  for  public  notices.     A 
projecting  top  prevents  the  rain  from  tearing  or 
washing  away  the  bills,  the  boards  are  surmounted 
by  ornamental  woodwork,   and  the  advertising  is 
thus  not  only  kept  in  bounds  but  is  made  almost 
artistic.     Of  like  purpose,  and  better  known,  are 
the  familiar  kiosks  of  Paris,    and  the  city-owned 
pillars  for  theatrical  bills.     In  Paris  vigorous  agita- 
tion has  lately  arisen  against  the   defacement  of 
building-fronts  by  hugely  lettered  signs,  and  there 
are  ordinances  which  prohibit  the  attachment  of 
notices  to  any  tree  on  the  public  way,  or  to  the 
municipal  lighting  apparatus,  while  it  is  a  carefully 
worded  clause  that  renders  possible,  with  the  per- 
mission of  the  city  council,    the  maintenance  of 
public  lamps  for  advertising  purposes.     In  theory 

6 


82  Umprovement  of  ^owns  anO  Cities 


all  the  advertisements  on  Paris  streets  must  receive 
the  approval  of  the  administration  in  looks  as  well 
as  in  morality,  though  in  practice  this  matter  is 
usually  left  to  the  police  department,  the  law 
having  made  liable  to  prosecution  the  violators  of 
good  taste.  In  Rome  the  municipal  and  govern- 
ment acts  are  posted  on  marble  tablets  owned  by 
the  government  and  reserved  for  this  use.  Private 
announcements  are  on  bill-boards,  of  regulated  size 
and  form,  which  can  be  erected  only  on  permission 
from  the  property-owner  and  from  the  city. 

In  the  United  States,  unhappily,  the  popular  en- 
thusiasm concerning  the  aesthetic  control  of  adver- 
tisements has  not  reached  as  large  proportions; 
but  now  and  then  societies  for  the  improvement  of 
cities  in  one  way  or  another  do  take  it  up  as  a  side 
issue  —  in  wide  admission  of  the  need.  Thus  in 
Boston,  the  strong  Twentieth  Century  Club  has 
gone  to  the  expense  of  having  the  existing  ordi- 
nances printed  on  many  thousand  cards  that  the 
public  might  better  know  them,  and  has  had  pre- 
fixed to  the  ordinances  a  pledge  that  the  signer  will 
permit  no  advertisements  on  his  property,  other 
than  plain  and  inoffensive  ones  necessary  to  his 
tenant's  business  or  his  own.  Through  its  art  de- 
partment it  has  also  offered  a  money  prize  for  the 
set  of  twelve  photographs  that  shall  illustrate  most 
ieffectively  the  aesthetic  injury  wrought  by  glaring 
advertisements. 

In  1899  the  president  of  the  British  Society  for 
Checking  the  Abuses  of  Public  Advertising  submit- 
ted to  the  superintending  architect  of  the  London 


XLbc  ilOvertisement  problem  83 


County  Council  a  series  of  specific  suggestions 
for  the  regulation  of  advertising.  Included  among 
them  were  several  recommendations  of  inter' 
national  application. 

The  law  in  London  already  limited  the  height  of 
hoardings  for  the  display  of  posters  and  regarded 
them  as  subject  to  taxes,  like  other  rentable  prop- 
erty.    In   addition   to   this,    the   president  of  the 
British  society  suggested  that  it  was  an  "  essential 
thing"   to  fix  a  height  above  which  there  should 
be  no  letters  or  trade  emblems.      He  said:   "  The 
thirty-feet  limit  would  work  a  splendid  change  in 
most  of  our  great  avenues,"  and  added:   "  Indi- 
vidually, I   think  it  would  be  a  grave  mistake  to 
allow  any  indulgence  to  gable  ends;  letters  there 
are  far  more  disfiguring  than  on  the  fronts,  for  they 
form  a  feature  in  the  lateral  view.     Why  should  a 
man  have  a  privilege  to  attack  the  eye  merely  be- 
cause  his    house   happens   to   be   higher   than    his 
neighbor's  ?     Nothing  could  be  more  discouraging 
to  careful  architecture  than  to  put  a  premium  on 
crude-wall  space.     Much  that  is  worst  in  London 
and  Paris  is  due  to  the  temptation  to  use  up  what 
is  called  an  ugly  end  for  huge  lettering.     I  should 
like  an  absolute  veto  on  gable-end  lettering.     If  the 
empty  space  is  ungainly,   it   is  at  least   neutral." 
He    suggested    that    space    occupied    by  lettering 
should  "  hav*  a  prescribed  ratio  to  the  superficies 
of  the  facade  below  the  thirty- feet  line  " — his  idea 
being  to  prevent  by  such  restriction  the  plastering 
of  a  small  house  with  letters  and  emblems  from 
base  to  parapet.     He  urged  that  in  no  case  should 


84  ITmprofement  ot  tTowns  an&  Cities 


the  size  of  letters  exceed  i8  inches  by  13^  inches, 
the  limit  to  the  height  of  the  advertisement's  ex- 
posure making  this  reasonable;  and  then  that  they 
should  adhere  to  the  flat  surface  of  the  wall,  and 
when  possible  be  part  of  the  architectural  design. 
He  advocated  special  regulations  for  hanging  signs 
and  flags — "forms,"  he  said,  "which  might  eas- 
ily be  rendered  decorative,"  and  which,  therefore, 
ought  not  to  be  unduly  discouraged.' 

The  London  law's  assumption  that  bill-boards 
should  be  subject  to  taxes,  like  other  rentable 
property,  suggests  the  feasibility  of  regulating  ad- 
vertisements by  a  tax  graduated  according  to  the 
superficial  area  of  the  sign.  And  this  offers  a  new 
source  of  municipal  income.  In  Europe  a  tax  on 
advertisements  or  hoardings  is  by  no  means  un- 
common. In  France  the  law,  as  long  ago  as  1852, 
imposed  a  fee  for  all  painted  signs  in  public  places; 
and  the  person  wishing  to  put  up  such  a  sign  has, 
in  his  request  for  the  permission,  to  make  a  de- 
claration giving  full  intelligence  regarding  it.  in- 
cluding even  the  text  of  the  sign.     In  Germany, 

'  Chinese  tradesmen  advertise  their  shops  by  means  of  per- 
pendicular streamers,  hung  from  the  upper  stories  by  a  short 
horizontal  rod.  When  streamers  at  various  heights  and  of 
various  lengths,  and  colored  harmoniously,  flutter  in  the 
breeze,  a  very  festive  appearance  can  be  given  to  the  street. 
But  to  make  this  plan  successful  in  the  great  cities  of  Western 
civilization,  there  would  have  to  be  a  popular  degree  of  aesthetic 
appreciation  and  a  harmony  of  action  for  which  it  is  entirely 
vain  to  look.  And  it  should  be  added  that  such  a  device, 
whatever  the  brief  merit  of  its  life  and  picturesqueness,  would 
screen  the  architecture. 


Cbe  aovertleement  {problem  85 


also,  the  special  advertising  boards  and  columns 
are  rendered  a  source  of  income.  The  city  lets 
the  right  to  erect  them,  after  determining  and 
stating  the  charge  that  may  be  made  for  all  adver- 
tisements so  posted;  the  requirements  of  Berlin 
affording  an  interesting  and  suggestive  example. 
Here,  the  contractor's  columns  must  be  of  the 
regulated  size  and  model;  there  must  be  one  for 
each  city  district,  and  on  the  upper  edge  of  each 
column  there  must  be  given  in  easily  readable  form 
(a)  the  number  of  the  city  district;  (b)  the  number 
of  the  police-station  therein  ;  (c)  the  location  of  the 
nearest  postal  and  telegraph  ofifice;  (d)  that  of  the 
nearest  hre  alarm;  (e)  that  of  the  nearest  ambu- 
lance station,  and  the  directions  for  obtaining  free 
carriages  for  transporting  persons  suffering  from 
infectious  diseases.  The  contractor  must  keep  the 
columns  in  a  condition  satisfactory  to  the  royal 
police  presidency  and  to  the  magistrate;  but  they 
shall  be  esteemed  the  property  of  the  city,  even 
though  the  contractor  has  erected  them.  If  they 
have  to  be  removed,  he  must  remove  them.  For 
the  monopoly,  thus  restricted,  bids  are  invited. 
In  1891  the  contract  for  the  columns  in  Berlin  was 
let  for  a  term  of  ten  years  at  the  annual  rental  of 
250,000  marks  ($63,750).  This  was  clear  profit  to 
the  city,  which  yet  retained  the  right  to  condemn 
any  sign.  In  1901  the  rental  became  400,000  marks. 
Obviously,  the  problem  of  advertisement  control 
is  large,  and,  wholly  apart  from  the  financial  pos- 
sibilities to  the  city  (which  are  somewhat  incidental 
in  the  discussion  of  municipal  beauty),  they  are  not 


86  iiniprovemcnt  ot  ^owns  ano  cincs 


a  little  complicated.  The  restrictive  ordinances 
adopted  in  various  places  are  full  of  suggestion, 
and  taken  together  reveal  a  very  earnest  desire  for 
the  betterment  of  the  public  way.  They  show  that 
considerable  has  been  done  already,  and  that  in 
this  department  of  effort  a  great  deal  more  might 
be  done  for  city  beauty.  They  encourage,  also, 
with  the  proof  that  the  control  of  advertisements 
on  the  public  way  is  no  visionary  and  impractical 
conception,  and  that  any  city  or  village  with  ideals 
of  beauty  can  find  plenty  of  examples  of  how  to  go 
to  work.  And  they  can  even  put  something  into 
their  coffers  by  going  to  work.  If,  however,  the 
dream  of  a  city  so  dignified,  so  majestic  and  self- 
respecting  that  its  streets  are  not  permitted  to 
shout  panaceas  and  clothing,  or  to  scream  firm 
names  in  unwilling  ears,  seems  Utopian  to  the 
faint-hearted,  we  may  moderate  the  contention  and 
put  it  in  simpler  terms.  Picture  the  result  if  only 
the  more  discordant  notes  were  silenced.  The  re- 
sult would  be  worth  the  effort  then ;  and  for  it  so 
elementary  a  conception  is  needed  as  merely  the 
thought  that  the  individual  has  no  more  "  right  " 
to  offend  the  public's  eye  with  flaunting  self-assert- 
iveness  than  to  offend  its  ear  with  crashing  sounds 
or  the  nostrils  with  unpleasant  odors.  Once  obtain 
admission  of  that,  as  patient  efforts  doubtless  can, 
and  the  dream  is  in  a  fair  way  to  realization.' 

'  There  can  be  profitably  quoted  here  an  extract  from  the 
case  presented  on  behalf  of  the  city  of  Edinburgh  to  that  Par- 
Hamentary  committee  to  which  had  been  referred  the  bill  to 
give    to   the   corporation   extensive   power   of    control    over 


Zbc  BDvcrtl^ement  iproblcm  87 


The  advertisement  problem  is  not  limited,  how- 
ever, to  restrictive  efforts.  As  the  city  beautiful 
requires  that  its  bridges  and  buildings  have  not 
merely  negative,  but  positive,  merit,  so  it  demands 
that  such  a  conspicuous  feature  as  the  advertise- 
ments on  the  public  way  be  beautiful. 

The  idea  that  aesthetic  charm  can  be  given  to  the 
glaring,  shrieking  letters  of  the  common  sign  and 
job-print  bill  seems  at  first  fantastical.  But  it  is 
acknowledged  in  the  command  of  Paris  that  on  the 
principal  streets  shop  announcements  shall  be  only 
in  gold  leaf;  and  everywhere  designers  themselves 
give  grotesque  curves  and  varied  background  to 
their  letters,  as  though  in  recognition  that  some- 
advertisements.  The  petitioners  say  :  "  In  November,  1897, 
Bovril,  Limited,  acquired  an  option  of  lease  over  some  prop- 
erty in  James'  Court,  overlooking  Princes  Street  and  the 
Mound,  witli  the  object  of  erecting  thereon  one  of  their  il- 
luminated signs.  A  public  outcry  was  raised,  and  remon- 
strances were  addressed  to  the  company  by  the  Lord  Provost, 
the  Cockburn  Association,  and  others,  and  the  company,  with 
a  courtesy  which  deserves  the  thanks  of  the  community,  de- 
layed until  they  ascertained  the  feelings  of  the  citizens  on  the 
matter.  Within  a  day  or  two  they  received  such  overwhelm- 
ing evidence  of  the  opinions  of  the  citizens  that  they  aban- 
doned their  purpose.  In  intimating  this  they  said,  '  We  are 
without  any  doubt  convinced  that  the  voice  of  the  people  of 
Edinburgh  is  distinctly  against  the  erection  of  an  illuminated 
sign  as  contemplated  ;  we  accordingly  give  way  before  the 
evidence  you  put  before  us.' "  Then  the  petitioners  add,  sig- 
nificantly, as  showing  that  public  opinion  should  secure  the 
entrenchment  of  an  ordinance,  "  Unfortunately,  all  offenders 
have  not  the  courtesy  and  consideration  of  the  directors  of 
Povril,  Limited." 


88  Umprovement  of  (Towns  an&  Cities 


thing  else  than  size  and  hideousness  can  pay.  And 
surely  from  a  conception  that  the  sign  should  har- 
monize with  the  architectural  facade  and  be  a 
decorative  feature  of  it,  there  is  no  long  step  to  a 
thought  of  its  own  beauty.  The  Belgian  society, 
therefore,  which  has  advocated  the  latter  idea  so 
eagerly,  has  gone  furthest  in  encouragement  to 
positive  beauty  in  signs  on  the  streets. 

In  adopting  this  as  the  special  object  for  1895  of 
its  battle  for  civic  art,  L'GEuvre  sensibly  recognized 
that  the  life  of  the  sign  was  competition.  To 
shriek  a  little  louder  than  your  neighbor,  to  startle 
the  passenger  on  the  street  a  little  more  fearfully 
than  did  he — all  this  was  desired  merely  because 
you  were  competing  with  him  in  trying  to  attract 
the  passenger's  attention.  It  was  not  that  you 
were  a  barbarian.  In  the  date,  also,  of  L'CEuvre's 
special  effort  for  beauty  in  advertisements  there  is 
something  to  notice.  It  was  the  year  after  the 
society's  organization,  and  in  choosing  this  as  its 
first  undertaking  by  itself,  there  is  evidenced  the 
importance  which  its  members  attached  to  artistic 
signs.  The  society  began  the  crusade  by  arranging 
an  exposition  of  beautiful  advertisements,  ancient 
and  modern — for  there  were,  and  had  always  been, 
a  few.  Then  it  organized  a  competition  for  plans 
of  signs,  and  a  competition  for  new  signs  actually 
constructed.  We  have  pointed  out  that  its  effort 
was  partly  restrictive,  that  it  was  trying  to  show  the 
Heedlessness  of  the  ugly.  But  destructive  criticism 
is  a  thankless  and  generally  a  profitless  labor. 
L'CEuvre    tore    down    to    build    better.      So   the 


^be  aDverttsement  problem  89 


competitions  were  designed  distinctly  to  encourage 
good  work. 

The  exposition  was  held  in  the  Museum  of  Brus- 
sels, and  made  a  striking  illustration  of  the  sign's 
possible  architectural  application.  The  examples 
composing  it  offered,  also,  a  basis  from  which  in- 
telligently to  criticise  the  drawings  and  executed 
signs  that  were  offered  for  the  competitions,  for  the 
artists  who  submitted  drawings  only  were  required 
to  show  the  kind  of  facade  to  which  they  would 
like  to  have  their  work  attached.  With  the  an- 
nounced results  of  the  competitions  there  has  since 
been  quarrel;  but  it  is  fair  to  say  that  the  society 
was  its  own  first  critic.  It  confessed  that  the  signs 
for  which  prizes  were  awarded  were  not  always  as 
good  as  it  had  wished,  and  very  significantly  that 
they  are  not  the  best  to  be  now  found  in  Belgium. 
If  in  their  time  they  were  the  best  of  the  recent 
work,  there  must  have  been  an  improvement  to 
which  these  competitions  were  the  impetus.  At 
any  rate,  they  revealed  that  tradesmen  can  compete 
in  the  beauty  of  their  announcement  as  effectually 
as  in  size  or  in  ugliness;  and  that  the  passenger 
who  is  struck  with  the  beauty  of  a  sign  will  turn  to 
it  a  second  time,  and  a  third  and  a  fourth  with 
pleasure,  while  he  whom  bigness  and  crudeness 
alone  have  struck  looks  away  as  soon  as  he  can. 
So  L'CEuvre's  prizes  for  beautiful  signs  do  not  go 
unsought.  Sculptors  and  skilled  workers  in  iron 
compete  because  of  the  value  of  the  prizes,  for  the 
reputation  they  gain,  and  from  their  interest  in 
their  work;  and  merchants  commission  competitors 


90  Umprovcment  of  ^Towns  an^  Cities 


because  of  the  incidental  and  secondary  advertise- 
ment thus  secured.  Many  artistic  signs  now  add 
beauty  to  the  streets  of  the  Belgian  cities. 

Among  the  designs  and  the  executed  advertise- 
ments which  secured  prizes  in  those  early  compe- 
titions appropriateness  was  a  noticeable  feature. 
The  drawing  for  a  sign,  since  executed,  to  advertise 
a  store  where  Egyptian  cigarettes  were  sold,  was 
Egyptian  in  its  character.  Window  gardens  sur- 
mounted the  sign  of  the  ale-house  "  A  la  Rose  "; 
a  kid  was  one  of  the  devices  in  the  wrought-iron 
sign  of  a  store  where  gloves  were  on  sale;  and  the 
advertisement  over  the  door  of  a  china  shop  was  a 
relief  in  pottery.  The  circumstance,  sufficiently 
natural,  is  yet  a  reminder  of  a  time  when  signs 
were  fewer  and  generally  artistic  —  of  that  time 
when  a  fish  was  carved  in  stone  over  the  door  of 
the  Fishmongers'  Hall  at  Malines.  Then  the  guild 
halls  on  the  Grande  Place  of  Brussels  were  erected: 
the  Hall  of  the  Skippers  with  a  gable  resembling 
the  stern  of  a  large  vessel,  the  Hall  of  the  Butchers 
with  a  carven  swan,  the  House  of  the  Wolf,  or 
Hall  of  the  Archers,  with  its  Romulus  and  Remus 
scene.  And  in  England  the  inns  were  hanging  out 
interesting  models  of  their  quaint  names. 

These  rebus  signs,  in  which  pictures  and  figures 
are  the  substitutes  of  words,  have  well  nigh  passed. 
They  linger,  with  us,  in  the  golden  balls  of  the 
pawnbroker,  in  the  barber's  pole,  in  the  glover's 
hand,  in  the  cigar-seller's  wooden  Indian  which  is 
becoming  almost  as  rare  as  its  human  prototype. 
Surely  when  we  turn  to  civic   art  the  rebus  sign 


^be  aDvertlsemcnt  problem  gr 


might  be  well  revived.  It  adds  to  the  picturesque- 
ness  of  the  public  way,  it  invites  the  talent  of 
artists,  and  it  stimulates  the  imagination  and 
curiosity  of  those  who  love  to  study  the  aspects  of 
a  town. 

The  reforms  in  advertising  from  an  artistic  stand- 
point were  not  complete  if  no  account  were  taken 
of  the  progress  in  poster  making.  A  French  writer 
has  asked  if  there  is  anything  more  violently  im- 
pudent and  modern  than  the  poster  of  the  highway. 
But  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  even  the  Assyr- 
ians and  Egyptians,  made  use  of  the  publicity  of 
the  streets  for  their  announcements,  and  in  France 
itself  the  propositions  of  the  Sorbonne  were  plac- 
arded some  three  centuries  ago.  The  poster,  in- 
nocent of  bashfulness  in  presenting  its  impertinent 
message  on  the  urban  thoroughfare,  may  probably 
be  counted  upon,  then,  as  a  device  not  very  modern 
nor  likely  to  be  short-lived,  and  we  may  be  thank- 
ful if  it  learns  to  make  its  message  beautiful  and 
to  deliver  it  with  grace.  That  tliere  has  been 
advance  along  these  lines  is  too  obvious  to  need 
recital.  Perhaps,  however,  few  persons  realize 
how  recent  the  movement  has  really  been.  It  is 
another  case  where  mechanical  progress  has  been 
of  timely  aid  in  the  effort  for  beautiful  cities.  In 
1871  Walker  designed  a  "  mural  engraving  "  to 
advertise  Wilkie  Collins's  romance,  The  Woman 
in  White.  This  was  in  England,  and  the  engrav- 
ing, it  is  said,  was  the  first  illustrated  poster  put  on 
the  walls  of  London.  There  was  no  color  in 
it,  but  color  was  implied,  and  when  progress  in 


92  flmpvovemcnt  ot  Cowns  aiiD  Cities 


lithography  shortly  made  colors  available  for  the 
use  of  poster-artists  the  advance  was  rapid  and  was 
natural.  Because  it  was  the  former,  it  was  carried 
to  extremes  and  was  overdone;  because  it  was  the 
latter,  the  advance  that  was  really  artistic  came  to 
stay.  We  have  awakened  to  the  realization  that 
careful  design,  grace  of  line,  and  care  in  color  are 
"  worth  while  "  in  posters.  From  this  apprecia- 
tion that  even  real  talent  may  be  properly  enlisted 
in  their  behalf,  though  the  posters  be  common  to- 
day and  gone  to-morrow,  progress  ought  to  be  easy 
to  conception  of  the  worth  of  art  in  more  perma- 
nent advertisements. 

The  poster  brings  color  to  city  streets,  and  that 
reveals  another  phase  of  the  subject.  In  the  cities 
of  Renaissance  Italy  the  gray  wall  of  many  an  old 
palace  was  brightened  by  its  owner's  escutcheon. 
Heraldry  plays  yet  a  decorative  part  on  modern 
streets,  where  the  arms  of  royalty  blaze  in  heavy 
gilt  over  the  shops  that  have  catered  to  a  reigning 
house.  We  ought  to  find  a  suggestion  here.  In  a 
republic  there  may  be  scant  regard  for  the  crest  of 
an  individual,  but  why  should  not  the  trade-mark 
be  made  artistic,  be  colored,  and  emblazoned  on 
walls  as  proudly,  in  an  age  of  commerce  and  in- 
dustry, as  were  prowess  and  birth  in  chivalric 
days  ? 

So  with  the  work  of  the  artists,  the  sculptors,  the 
hammerers  of  iron,  with  rebus  signs  and  heraldic 
devices  giving  to  advertisements  a  beauty  long  un- 
known, the  business  streets  of  cities  no  more  would 


XLbe  BDvertieement  iproblcm 


93 


be  meaningless  printed  lines.  There  would  be 
nothing  violently  assertive,  nothing  glaring;  but 
art  would  stud  with  beauty,  life,  and  interest  the 
background  of  harmonious  facades.  We  should 
find  the  proper  solution  of  the  advertisement  prob- 
lem not  a  discouraging  task  but  an  inspiring  oppor- 
tunity, and  what  seems  a  far-off  goal  would  be 
reached  by  easy  steps. 


CHAPTER  VI 


MAKING    UTILITIES   BEAUTIFUL 


TO  bring  art  into  the  street,  to  make  the  acces- 
sories of  a  modern  thoroughfare  artistic  and 
beautiful,  so  that  the  eye  as  it  travels  down  the 
vista  of  street  may  not  merely  find  nothing  to  grate 
on  its  finer  sense,  but  may  discover  grace  in  many  an 
object  of  utility  and  so  take  pleasure  in  it — there  is 
a  purpose  fitted  to  call  out  the  earnest  effort  of  the 
worker  for  civic  art  and  to  kindle  his  enthusiasm. 
The  opportunity  has  not  passed  unperceived.  A 
whole  group  of  endeavors  along  this  line  is  famil- 
iarly classed  in  various  European  countries  as  art 
public  or  art  dans  la  rue,  and  its  results  have 
formed  the  subject  of  expositions,  national  and  in- 
ternational. In  the  United  States,  also,  the  task  is 
taken  up,  though  as  yet  mainly  by  artists,  who  find 
inspiration  in  the  wish  and  opportunity  "  to  clothe 
in  an  artistic  form  that  which  civilization  has 
made  useful  in  the  public  life,"  and  who  find  jus- 
tification for  their  efforts  in  the  economy  with 
which  large  results  may  be  obtained.     Their  high 

.94 


I 


/nbahintj  "atilitice  JiScaiitttul  95 


precedent  is  in  nature's  unfailing  investure  of  utility 
with  beauty. 

It  is  not  a  new  dream,  a  passing  fad  of  the  hour, 
born  of  the  wish  to  make  cities  fairer.  The  richly 
ornate  standards  of  the  flagstaffs  before  St.  Mark's 
in  Venice,  the  wrought  iron  lanterns  at  the  corners 
of  the  Strozzi  palace  in  Florence,  the  frieze  of  the 
hospital  in  Pistoja,  the  well  of  Quentin  Metsys  in 
the  square  at  Antwerp,  the  old  guild  signs  —  are 
not  these  relics  enough  to  show  the  glory  of  art 
dafis  la  rue  in  the  cities  of  the  Southern  and 
Northern  Renaissance  ?  When  civic  art  was  at  its 
best  there  was  earnest  effort  to  make  street  ne- 
cessities beautiful.  Artists  did  not  think  it  be- 
neath their  dignity  to  expend  talent  on  those  street 
furnishings  which  all  men  saw.  The  beauty  which 
they  could  give  to  lamp  or  sign  or  flagstaff  was  for 
the  community's  pleasure.  It  added  to  the  splen- 
dor and  repute,  not  of  private  fortune  only,  but  of 
the  city. 

What,  then,  are  those  street  necessities  upon 
which  artistic  form  should  be  bestowed  ?  We  may 
take  a  hint  from  the  chapter  on  repression  and 
suppression  and  from  the  relics  of  the  civic  art  of 
long  ago.  Surely  to  the  house-fronts  that  were  not 
to  be  too  high  nor  inharmonious  there  should  be 
given  a  degree  of  positive  beauty.  The  overhead 
wires  were  best  suppressed,  but,  until  they  are,  the 
poles  that  support  them  should  be  rendered  as 
artistic  as  possible.  The  signs,  street-lights,  and 
flagstaffs  that  demanded  the  attention  of  artists 
centuries  ago   require   it   now  ;   and  to   these    the 


96  Improvement  of  downs  anO  Cities 

urban  progress  in  public  comfort  has  added,  as 
necessities  of  the  modern  city  street,  mail  facilities, 
lavatories,  and  the  rapid-transit  plant. 

One  would  think  that  in   the  matter  of  house- 
fronts,  if  restrictive  ordinances  could  successfully 
prevent   inartistic  excesses,   attainment   to  beauty 
might  be  safely  left  to  result  from  the  natural  ex- 
ertions of  individual  rivalry.     That  is  not,  however, 
the  case.     It  happens  often,  but  not  always.     In 
England  a  fine  regard  for  interior  beauty  is  very 
commonly  accompanied  by  complete  indifference 
as  to  the  exterior.     Some  of  the  mansions  most 
artistic  or  splendid  within  are  shabby  or  ugly  on 
the  outside.     They  give  pleasure  to  the  few  who 
enter;  but  to  the  many  who  pass  in  the  street  they 
convey  no  grateful  sensation.     Silent  and  cold  and 
stern,  they   add  to  the   forbidding  aspect  of  the 
town.     In  New  York  for  many  years  an  accepted 
style   of   residential    facade,   with   the   custom   of 
wholesale    construction,    has  created  such   a  mo- 
notony of  architecture  that  one  house  is  like  all  the 
others  in  the  block,  though  within  there  may  be  a 
dozen   degrees  of  elegance  and  luxury,  the  indi- 
vidual's taste  fully  asserting  itself.     So  New  York 
and  London  are  glaring  examples;  but  the  indiffer- 
ence which  they  illustrate  in  multiple  is  revealed 
very  widely. 

There  is  need  of  something  more  than  restriction 
if  we  would  have  our  street  facades  surely  beauti- 
ful. There  is  need  of  more  than  even  the  require- 
ment of  harmony  and  the  insistence  of   Paris  on 


/bahind  intilttied  JBeautltul  97 


freshness  and  repair.  Private  owners  of  large 
property,  in  opening  new  streets,  sometimes  name 
in  their  deeds  of  sale  a  minimum  figure,  which  each 
purchaser  of  a  lot  binds  himself  not  to  go  beneath 
in  the  construction  of  his  house.  And  this  figure 
is  to  be  exclusive  of  furnishings.  But  for  the  city 
at  large  there  is  often  required  an  incentive  to  orig- 
inal effort,  some  prick  to  individual  conscience 
as  reminder  of  obligation  to  the  community,  as 
suggestion  that  to  the  city  which  has  given  a  hand- 
some or  a  beautiful  street  something  in  its  turn  is 
due.  Because  natural  rivalry  and  private  selfish- 
ness do  so  much,  however,  the  result  is  generally 
left  to  them,  and  when  they  fail  the  community 
stands  helplessly  aside,  deploring  the  consequence. 
The  energetic  workers  in  Brussels  in  the  new 
municipal  art  movement  were  not  content  to  do 
that.  In  the  first  year  of  their  organization  as  a 
national  society,  that  is,  in  1894,  they  offered  prizes 
for  the  most  beautiful  constructions  on  a  new  street 
which  the  city  had  opened,  the  Rue  Joseph  Stevens. 
The  plan  favorably  impressed  official  Paris  and 
has  been  adopted  there  with  even  more  conspicu- 
ousness.  In  December,  1897,  the  municipal  coun- 
cil authorized  an  annual  competition  among  the 
architects  and  the  owners  of  the  houses  to  be 
henceforth  built  in  Paris.  It  appointed  a  jury 
composed  of  five  members  of  the  council,  of  the 
managing  director  of  the  Services  cV Architecture  et 
des  Promenades  et  Plantations,  of  the  supervising 
architect  or  his  first  deputy,  and  of  two  architects 

chosen  by  the  formally  entered  competitors.     The 

7 


98  Umproreiuent  of  Q:ovvns  an5  Ctttcs 


six  owners  of  the  structures  which  the  jury  judged 
most  beautiful  or  artistic  were  to  be  exempt  from 
half  their  share  of  the  street  tax.  In  addition,  the 
architect  of  each  structure  thus  selected  was  to  re- 
ceive a  gold  medal  and  the  contractor  a  bronze 
medal,  an  early  suggestion  that  the  architect's  re- 
ward should  be  a  thousand  francs  having  been 
discarded  as  not  sufficiently  honorable.  This  com- 
petition, which  applied  to  the  whole  city,  was  sup- 
plemented by  another  applying  especially  to  a  new 
street,  the  Rue  Reaumur,  and  open  to  the  owners, 
architects,  and  builders  of  the  houses  erected  upon 
it  between  January  i,  1896,  and  January  i,  1900. 
In  this  case  four  owners,  instead  of  six,  could  re- 
ceive the  reward.  The  new  thoroughfare  was  in 
the  heart  of  business  Paris,  and  it  was  realized 
that  its  buildings  would  be  commercial  or  indus- 
trial. Thus  the  double  competition  had  the  merit 
of  eniphasizing  the  application  of  the  general  prin- 
ciple to  all  kinds  of  structures. 

There  may  fairly  be  criticism  of  a  notion  that 
art  must  lean  upon  an  artificial  stimulus;  but  be- 
fore we  criticise  we  should  distinguish  between  art 
and  genius.  And  in  any  event  the  public  com- 
petition teaches  a  healthy  lesson.  It  is  strong  to 
counteract  the  tendency  to  fancy  that  exteriors  may 
be  neglected  if  interiors  be  beautiful,  and  that  good 
taste  may  reasonably  be  selfish.  Appreciation  that 
the  city  can  afford  to  give  up  half  the  street  tax 
affecting  an  expensive  structure,  if  only  that  struc- 
ture have  a  conspicuously  beautiful  facade,  is  worth 
more  to  the  community  than  the  additional  degree 


^ahinQ  "atiliticB  Beautiful  99 


of  beauty  bestowed  in  response  to  the  offer.  It 
were  cheaply  bouglit  by  any  municipality  through 
the  institution  of  such  a  competition. 

In  this  turning  of  the  walls  of  private  buildings  to 
good  purpose,  there  is  another  lesson,  of  narrower 
application,  to  be  learned  from  Paris.  One  can 
find  it  written  upon  the  city  in  several  places,  but 
nowhere  more  strikingly  than  at  the  Place  St. 
Michel.  As  you  cross  from  the  Cite  to  the  left 
bank  of  the  Seine  by  the  Pont  St.  Michel,  you  see 
before  you  the  handsome  fountain  that  has  given 
its  name  to  bridge  and  square.  Standing  nearly  a 
hundred  feet  high,  in  a  niche  which  has  the  form 
of  a  triumphal  arch,  its  back  is  against  the  blank 
side-wall  of  the  large  building  in  the  angle  of  the 
street.  It  forms,  where  in  another  city  a  huge 
advertisement  might  have  made  hideous  wall  and 
square,  a  rich  facade,  which  not  only  adorns  the 
square,  but  makes  a  noble  background  to  the  per- 
spective from  the  bridge.  One  can  see  that  in  any 
city  where  the  street  system  is  largely  the  diagonal, 
there  must  be  many  structures — both  in  the  obtuse 
and  acute  angles — that  require  particularly  careful 
treatment.  They  impose  a  heavy  obligation  on  the 
architect  by  the  very  splendor  of  the  opportunity 
which  they  give  to  him,  demanding  a  facade  that 
will  be  effective  at  a  distance  as  well  as  near,  of  a 
dignity  suitable  for  perspective  view.  The  foun- 
tain of  St.  Michel  gives  a  hint  that  is  of  value  in 
solving  this  problem  in  civic  art. 

An  attempt  to  give  artistic  form  to  the  street 


roo         fmpi^ovement  of  Clowns  aiiD  Cities 


furnishings,  whose  one  excuse  for  being  is  their  use- 
fulness, is  a  recently  revived  and  a  still  limited  line 
of  effort.  So  far  as  it  is  organized,  and  is  extrane- 
ous to  the  companies  that  make  or  use  the  furnish- 
ings, and  is  public,  the  effort  is  novel.  It  has 
appeared  prominently  in  Belgium,  in  Paris,  and  late- 
ly in  Chicago  and  New  York;  yet,  compared  to  the 
breadth  of  the  possible  field,  its  conquest  is  small. 
Street  furnishings  may  be  defined  as  all  that 
visible  apparatus  which  makes  for  the  comfort 
and  convenience  of  the  thoroughfare.  They  now 
include  telegraph  and  other  poles,  lighting  and 
rapid-transit  apparatus,  stations  of  public  comfort, 
flag-staffs,  shelters,  rests,  etc.  We  shall  find  in 
Belgium,  Paris,  and  the  United  States  three  sug- 
gestively distinct  forms  of  organized  effort  to  se- 
cure beauty  in  these  necessities. 

In  Belgium  the  effort  is  in  the  hands  of  the  na- 
tional society,  L'Qiuvre  Nationale  Beige,  of  which 
there  has  been  already  more  than  one  occasion  to 
speak.  It  may  be  well  to  go  back  a  little,  and 
trace  the  rise  and  origin  of  the  society,  for  it  has 
imitators  in  the  cities  of  Italy,  and  in  Paris  her- 
self, and  it  has  become  not  merely  a  national,  but 
an  international,  power.  Eugene  Broerman,  a 
young  Belgian  artist  of  Brussels,  went  to  Italy  to 
continue  his  artistic  studies.  Taken  ill,  he  was 
unable  to  paint  for  many  weeks,  and  could  only 
wander  about,  noting  traces  of  the  glory  of  the 
ancient  civic  art  and  the  sad  estate  to  which  this 
was  now  fallen.     One  day  he  asked  himself  why 


flbahiiig  TUtUities  JBeautituI  loi 


such  lapse  as  he  everywhere  saw  should  be  per- 
mitted; why  those  who  had  aesthetic  sense  should 
not  form  a  society  that  would  make  art  and  beauty 
on  the  public  way  its  aim;  why  the  present  should 
not  value  beauty  as  did  the  past.  The  thought 
grew  upon  him,  making  steadily  increasing  appeal 
to  his  earnestness. 

A  plan  gradually  shaped  itself  and  when  he  re- 
turned to  Brussels  he  was  full  of  enthusiasm.  To 
secure  good  backing  he  obtained  personally  the 
indorsement  of  fifty  prominent  men  for  his  ideal 
and  project.  Then  he  interested  his  artist-friends, 
and  with  their  assistance  arranged  a  fete  that  should 
bring  his  plan  before  the  public  and  at  once  pro- 
vide the  society  with  funds.  This  fete  was  held  in 
the  spring  of  1894,  and  was  a  success.  An  organi- 
zation under  the  title,  originally,  of  Association  for 
Art  Applied  to  the  Street  and  to  Objects  of  Public 
Use  was  promptly  formed,  and  a  prospectus  is- 
sued. The  idea  won  its  way  rapidly.  The  associa- 
tion had  the  advantage  of  requiring  no  argument 
to  prove  its  pertinence,  especially  in  Belgium, 
where  there  were  still  traces  of  former  civic  art. 
Soon  it  was  necessary  to  change  the  title  that  the 
word  "  national  "  might  be  inserted,  for  the  asso- 
ciation had  spread  from  Brussels  to  other  cities. 
It  met  with  some  natural  opposition,  but  it  was 
able  at  the  close  of  its  second  year  to  report  two 
thousand  members  in  the  capital,  the  support  of 
ten  daily  papers  there,  of  one  hundred  burgomas- 
ters, aldermen,  and  councillors  of  the  Brussels 
and    Antwerp    delegations,    and    of    seventy-eight 


ro2         flmprovcmcnt  of  (Towns  anO  Cities 


senators  and  representatives,  without  distinction 
of  political  opinion.  Also,  its  local  branches  re- 
ceived subsidies  from  the  towns. 

There  is  no  need  to  dwell  here  on  the  internal 
organization  or  to  detail  L'CEuvre's  history.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say,  that  it  made  the  "  application  of  art 
to  objects  of  public  use,"  to  the  furnishings  of  the 
street,  its  special  purpose.  This  it  undertook  to  se- 
cure by  the  institution  of  competitions.  And  in  the 
juries  which  made  these  prize  awards,  the  council  of 
L,'QLnvve  had  only  minority  representation,  that  it 
might  not  be  said  the  association  had  a  "  school  " 
to  found  or  any  selfish  purpose,  and  that  pro- 
gress toward  the  artistic  ideal  might  be  "  left  to 
the  vigorous  forces  of  contemporaneous  activity." 
We  have  spoken  of  L'QEuvre's  competition  for  the 
most  beautiful  house-front  on  a  new  street,  and  of 
its  encouragement  to  artistic  business  signs.  Here 
only  its  competitions  for  street  utilities  concern  us. 

In  1896,  L'CEuvre  made  the  decorative  quality  of 
apparatus  for  the  public  lighting  the  special  subject 
of  a  crusade.  The  authorities  of  various  cities  were 
asked  to  designate  public  places  which  it  was  de- 
sired to  light  artistically,  and  L'CEuvre  announced 
two  competitions  :  One  for  "  the  idea,"  and  one 
for  the  result  of  its  actual  execution.  Eminent 
artists  were  appointed  to  the  jury,  and  several  of 
the  designs  then  submitted  were  recommended 
later  for  j^roduction.  One,  of  a  single  candelabrum 
for  the  Place  de  la  Monnaie  in  Brussels,  has  been 
reproduced  in  different  cities,  and  two  other  de- 
signs were  accepted  by  the  communes  of  Molenbeck 


ilBahing  TUtilities  JCcautttul  103 


and  Anderlecht.  Aside  from  this  definite  gain, 
the  competition  had  an  influence  not  easy  to 
measure.  The  organ  of  L'CEuvre  declares  that  it 
had  been  the  custom  for  superintendents  of  public 
works  to  order  the  city  lighting  apparatus  from 
the  illustrated  catalogues  of  "  international  manu- 
facturers." These  offered  the  same  type  of  post. 
of  conventional  design  and  careless  proportion,  for 
all  cities  of  all  countries  —  much,  one  imagines,  as 
American  villages  are  believed  once  to  have  ordered 
their  soldiers'  monuments.  The  better-informed 
authorities,  the  paper  asserts,  have  no  longer  re- 
course to  this  cosmopolitan  draughtsmanship;  they 
now  assign  to  worthy  artists  the  task  of  producing 
designs  appropriate  for  the  city's  new  or  trans- 
formed quarters.  The  competition  for  the  lighting 
apparatus  has  been  duplicated  in  the  society's 
effort  in  behalf  of  more  artistic  flagstaffs,  news- 
paper kiosks,  etc. 

In  1897,  when  the  exposition  was  held  in  Brus- 
sels, the  association  pushed  its  campaign  in  behalf 
of  beauty  in  the  street  utilities  along  yet  another 
line,  fitting  up  a  section  for  a  special  exhibition  of 
"public  art."  Antwerp,  Bruges,  Ghent,  Liege, 
Namur,  and  many  other  cities,  as  well  as  Brussels, 
were  called  upon  for  exhibits,  in  original  or  repro- 
duction, of  their  treasures,  and  so  the  section  was 
rich  in  historical  interest.  It  made  also  an  inspir- 
ing demonstration  of  the  aims  of  the  society.  In- 
cluded in  the  display  were  full-sized  models  of  new 
artistic  devices  for  street  lighting,  designs  for  im- 
portant restorations,   projects  for  the  renaissance 


104        llmprovement  of  ^owns  an&  Cities 


of  particular  forms  of  civic  art,  and  plans  for  the 
splendid  clearing  out  which  was  soon  to  reveal  in 
worthy  setting  the  architectural  wealth  of  ancient 
Ghent.  The  department  proved  a  popular  feature 
of  the  exposition  and  did  much  to  popularize  this 
section  of  municipal  art  endeavor.' 

Art  dans  la  rue  has  thus  gained  in  Belgium  a  sup- 
port that  it  is  difficult  to  appreciate  in  America. 
This  is  partly  through  the  success  of  the  exhibition, 
more  largely  through  the  persistency  of  the  soci- 
ety's efforts,  and  from  the  daily  public  evidence 
of  the  truth  and  justice  of  its  contentions,  as  re- 
vealed by  the  results  achieved  along  the  streets  of 
Brussels  and  other  cities.  It  has  done  far  more 
than  secure  good-humored  sufferance  as  a  whim  of 
artists,  and  even  more  than  enthusiastic  support 
from  a  small  section  of  the  public.  It  is  taken  as 
a  matter  of  course  by  all  the  people.  A  significant 
consequence  of  this  is  seen  in  the  effect  on  enter- 
prises that  do  not  pretend  to  formal  enlistment  in 
the  movement.  A  trolley  company,  for  instance, 
would  not  think  of  so  violating  the  public  ideal  of 
the  street  as  to  erect  such  bare,  crude  poles  as  mar 
many  leading  thoroughfares  in  less  fastidious  com- 
munities. It  would  voluntarily  make  an  attempt, 
even  if  not  very  successful  in  it,  to  give  to  the 
poles  some  beauty  and  grace. 

In  Paris  regard  for  the  artistic  character  of  the 

street    furnishings   has    devolved   upon    municipal 

officials.    The  city  government  is  strictly  paternal, 

and  such  is  the  jealousy  with  which  all  lines  of 

'   Vd.  note,  pg.  300. 


I 


/Bbahlng  "QltlUtlcB  3Geautlfu[  105 


effort  are  assumed  by  it  that  scant  encouragement 
is  given  to  individual  initiative.  The  reader  must 
already  have  suspected  this  to  be  true  in  the  aes- 
thetic field.  The  administration  is  a  network  of 
"commissions."  In  its  organization  civic  beauty 
is  placed  alongside  the  public  health,  safety,  well- 
being,  as  a  goal  not  less  desirable  than  they.  Ac- 
cordingly we  find  the  Parisian  local  authorities 
patronizing  art  in  many  directions.  In,  for  in- 
stance, the  Direction  Administrative  des  Services 
d' Architecture  et  des  Fromcfiades  et  Plantations,  in 
the  Commission  Administrative  des  Beaux-arts,  in  the 
Commission  de  Decoration  de  V Hdtel  de  Ville,  in  the 
Commission  de  Surveillance  des  Musees  Municipaux, 
in  the  Conseil  d"  Architecture ^\n  the  Service  Technique 
du  Flan  de  Paris,  and  in  many  others,  the  greatest 
artists  of  Paris  and  the  most  expert  connoisseurs 
are  invited  to  do  their  share  in  an  honorable  official 
role  toward  making  the  city  more  beautiful.  As  in 
the  matter  of  building  very  careful  repression  is 
supplemented  by  distinct  artistic  encouragement, 
so  in  all  the  affairs  of  the  street  there  is,  through 
the  employment  of  artists,  (i)  surveillance  of  art 
and  (2)  incentive  to  it. 

Kiosks  for  the  sale  of  newspapers  must  be  of  a 
plan  approved  by  the  administration;  the  terms  of 
the  concessions  for  the  street  lavatories  require 
that  "  their  elevation  shall  present  a  decorative  ap- 
pearance in  harmony  with  their  surroundings,"  and 
that  not  so  much  as  a  notice  shall  be  attached  to 
one  until  the  "  model  "  of  it  has  been  approved  by 
the  director  in  charge  of  this  service.     The  light- 


io6        Umpropement  of  Cowiis  aiiD  Cities 


ing  apparatus  must  be  of  harmonious  and  artistic 
design,  and  must  be  kept  in  repair.  The  bronze 
lamp-posts,  with  their  pleasing  lines  and  artistic 
ornamentation,  must  be  frequently  washed  and  pol- 
ished. The  fence  with  which  public  work  is 
screened  from  view  is  neatly  painted  and  free 
from  advertisements.  The  isolated  letter-boxes 
are  columns  of  ornamental  iron,  surmounted  in  the 
new  model  by  a  lantern  to  make  them  conspicuous 
at  night,  and  were  constructed  from  designs  fur- 
nished by  the  chief  architect  of  the  city.  The  very 
street  refuges,  it  has  been  remarked,  are  not  only 
well  adapted  to  their  various  sites,  but  are  in- 
tended to  be  ornaments  to  the  streets.  The  flag- 
staffs,  the  electric-light  poles,  the  posts  for  single, 
double,  and  grouped  lamps  are  of  ornamental  pat- 
tern, and  public  clocks  with  clear  white  faces  are 
to  be  found  at  brief  intervals  on  the  lamp-posts  or 
kiosks.  Even  the  chairs  in  the  parks  or  on  the 
public  way  must,  if  controlled  by  concessionnaires, 
be  kept  in  perfect  repair  and  conform  to  a  model 
approved  by  the  administration. 

It  is  clear  that  in  Paris  the  movement  for  art  in 
the  street  is  in  the  hands  of  officials  to  an  extent 
that  is  not  paralleled  in  American  cities  and  that 
almost  arrests  private  initiative.  The  officials,  as 
represented  in  the  system  of  commissions,  are  as 
eager  in  its  behalf  as  private  individuals  could  be; 
while  behind  them  there  is  such  financial  resource 
as  to  discourage  competition.  If  there  results  from 
this  a  loss  in  the  total  energy  put  forth,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  none  of  the  effort  is  dissipated. 


/BbahtnQ  TlltiUttes  JBeautlful  107 


Indeed,  the  concentration  may  result  in  even 
greater  efficiency.  There  are  not  many  places 
where  the  matter  could  be  left  so  satisfactorily  to 
the  public  authorities,  for  it  should  be  recalled 
that  the  whole  system  is  the  outcome  of  the  French 
love  for  outdoor  life  and  for  the  street.  It  is  a 
strongly  paternal  government's  reflection  of  a  truly 
popular  desire  to  have  Paris  beautiful. 

Such  organized  effort  as  has  appeared  in  the 
United  States  to  give  beauty  to  street  necessities  is 
mainly  in  the  hands  of  the  municipal  art  societies. 
There  are  not  many  of  these,  but  it  means  a  good 
deal  that  there  should  be  any.  And  they  are  so 
young  that  one  can  believe  the  movement  only  be- 
ginning. The  easiest  way  to  describe  their  activity 
is  to  say  that  these  societies  attempt  to  do  in  their 
field  the  work  which  L'CEuvre  Nationale  Beige  does 
for  the  street  furnishings  of  Belgian  cities.  But 
their  energy  and  influence  are  of  course  proportion- 
ate to  their  much  more  moderate  size,  and  consid- 
erable of  the  energy  is  expended  for  the  internal 
decoration  of  public  buildings.  In  smaller  com- 
munities, and  sometimes  in  restricted  areas  of  large 
cities,  local  or  street  improvement  associations 
do  work  on  similar  lines.  A  Municipal  Art  Society 
was  organized  in  New  York  in  1893  and  enlarged 
in  scope  in  1898.  One  was  established  in  Cincin- 
nati in  1894;  they  appeared  in  Cleveland,  Chi- 
cago, and  Baltimore  in  1S99;  and  so  it  goes.  The 
societies  that  are  nominally  less  ambitious  begin 
with  village  improvement  associations,  which  spread 


io8        IFmprovement  of  ^owns  anO  Cities 


their  efforts  through  a  field  so  wide  that  the  street 
furnishings  get  little. 

Until  the  Municipal  Art  Society  of  the  city  of 
New  York  adopted  its  new  constitution  in  1898,  it 
was  dependent  upon  the  subscriptions  of  its  mem- 
bers for  funds  wherewith  to  provide  decorations 
for  public  buildings  and  streets.  T^ese  are  costly, 
and  one  series  of  mural  paintings  and  a  small  share 
in  a  bit  of  street  memorial  sculpture  were  all  that 
it  secured.  By  the  new  constitution  it  obtained 
power  to  organize  competitions  for  works  of  art  for 
the  execution  of  which  it  did  not  pay.  It  took  as 
its  interestingly  suggestive  motto  the  phrase,  "  To 
make  us  love  our  city,  we  must  make  our  city 
lovely,"  and  it  extended  its  function  by  offering 
prizes  for  the  most  artistic  street-lamps,  benches, 
flagpoles,  shelters,  etc.  The  latter  competition 
was  instituted  in  the  winter  of  1899,  in  response  to 
the  need  for  a  shelter  for  street-car  patrons  trans- 
ferring at  the  corner  of  Seventh  Avenue  and  Fifty- 
ninth  Street.  Three  hundred  dollars  were  offered 
in  two  prizes.  For  a  competition  in  1898  for  an 
ornamental  flagstaff  and  pedestal  in  front  of  the 
city  ?)all,  the  society  offered  $700  in  three  prizes. 
The  society  has  not  always  succeeded  in  securing 
the  execution  of  the  work  it  approves;  but  at  least 
it  impresses  the  lesson  that  street  furnishings  should 
be  more  than  merely  utilitarian.  It  urges,  also, 
that  where  the  municipality  does  not  avail  itself  of 
the  expert  judgment  thus  gratuitously  obtained, 
private  generosity  may  well  be  guided  by  the 
verdicts.     The  Cincinnati  society,  founded  a  year 


/Bbahlng  'atiKtics  3Beautlful  109 

after  the  New  York,  was  closely  modelled  on  the 
latter's  original  constitution.  Its  activity  was  con- 
fined to  interior  decorations  and  is  not,  therefore, 
pertinent  to  this  chapter.  The  Cleveland  organi- 
zation was  founded  particularly  to  promote  interest 
in  the  group  plan  for  the  new  public  buildings. 
Baltimore's  society  was  very  flourishing  from  the 
start.  In  its  first  week  four  persons  paid  $1000 
each  for  the  title  of  "  art  patron,"  and  less  than  a 
year  after  incorporation  it  had  six  hundred  mem- 
bers. It  conducted,  in  December,  1899,  a  confer- 
ence attended  by  municipal  art-workers  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  States.  The  Chicago  society 
is  advocating  beauty  in  street  utilities  and  in  signs, 
and  the  harmonious  grouping  of  buildings. 

The  less  spectacular  work  of  the  smaller  associa- 
tions often  consists  of  merely  protest.  A  lamp-post 
is  neglected  and  becomes  an  eyesore,  a  telegraph 
or  other  pole  is  placed  where  it  has  no  business, 
and  the  neighborhood  organization  makes  objection 
and  if  necessary  presses  the  complaint.  In  Evans- 
ton,  Illinois,  some  time  ago,  the  city  council  was 
asked  to  provide  street  signs.  The  council,  declar- 
ing its  willingness  to  do  so,  asserted  that  it  had  no 
available  funds.  Thereupon  the  Judson  Avenue 
Improvement  Association,  followed  by  those  of 
other  streets,  announced  that  at  its  own  expense  it 
would  furnish  neat  and  attractive  signs,  for  which 
the  council  might  reimburse  it  at  a  more  convenient 
season.  The  instance  is  a  type  of  a  sort  of  effort 
by  these  smaller,  less  aspiring,  but  very  practical 
organizations.     They  make  little  display  and  offer 


no         Umprovcmcnt  of  Zlowns  anD  Cities 


scant  encouragement  to  creative  imagination,  but 
they  are  loyal  to  a  fixed  ideal.  In  the  battle  for 
civic  art  theirs  is  an  important  task.  The  muni- 
cipal art  societies  lead  the  way,  take  new  redoubts, 
carry  the  standards  farther  forward.  Upon  these 
other  organizations,  representing  the  main  army, 
which  is  public  opinion,  rests  responsibility  for 
bringing  up  the  support  and  holding  the  ground 
that  is  gained.  Very  few  municipal  art  societies, 
distributed  among  the  large  cities,  would  suffice,  if 
everywhere  there  were  local  associations  eagerly 
noting  each  step  of  progress  and  rallying  to  the 
holding  of  it. 

In  reviewing  the  endeavor  to  make  beautiful 
what  has  been  so  long  the  commonplace  in  civic 
life,  one  thing  is  visible.  It  may  be  seen  alike 
through  the  three  distinct  forms  of  the  effort,  in 
Belgium,  Paris,  and  the  United  States.  That  is, 
the  realization  that  the  duty  and  the  hope  rest  with 
the  people.  All  the  workers  in  this  line  of  muni- 
cipal art  have  perceived  that  the  matter  concerns 
the  public.  In  Paris  the  task  is  arrogated  by  the 
public  officials  only  as  they  would  execute  the  will 
of  the  people.  In  Belgium  it  is  in  the  hands  of 
a  national  society  subsidized  by  the  towns,  and  of 
membership  open  to  everybody.  In  the  United 
States  the  effort  is  still  for  the  most  part  educa- 
tional only.  To  keep  in  touch  with  the  public,  to 
arouse  its  interest  and  so  to  create  a  popular  de- 
mand, is  the  aim  of  all  the  societies.  Public  inter- 
est is  apprehended  to  be  the  one  hope  of  public  art. 


/Dbafttng  'atllltles  Beauttful  m 


Nor  has  this,   when  awakened  in  the  past,   ever 
failed  to  inspire  a  worthy  achievement. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  sesthetic  possibilities  in 
business  signs  there  was  mention  of  color  for  city 
streets.  This  opens  another  line  of  endeavor  in 
the  cause  of  artistic  cityhood,  for  color  doubtless 
should  have  an  important  part  in  the  city  beautiful. 
The  smoke  nuisance  removed,  there  is  the  blue  of 
the  sky  for  white  buildings  to  show  against,  as 
presented  by  the  color  scheme  of  the  modern  clas- 
sic. There  are  also  the  bright  hues  of  nature  with 
their  undertone  of  verdure,  as  made  much  of  in 
the  gardens  of  Babylon,  these  primal  elements 
lending  beauty  to  the  modern  village  street.  In 
succeeding  chapters  will  be  noted  what  nature  can 
do  for  the  streets  of  cities.  The  fagades  of  Italian 
cities  are  painted,  even  to-day,  in  bright  colors. 
The  red  tiles  of  their  roofs  add  another  touch,  to 
be  found  much  farther  north,  and  make  reminder 
of  the  color  symphonies  which  architects  can  play 
in  the  use  of  the  familiar  building  materials.  And 
always,  until  the  last  century,  there  have  been  gay, 
varied,  and  fantastic  costumes  to  give  color  and 
life  to  streets.  It  is  only  within  a  hundred  years, 
indeed,  that  the  urban  highway  has  become  a  mon- 
ochrome, dull  and  dingy. 

Yet  we  have  still  the  sky,  the  blue  sea,  and  na- 
ture's lavishness  in  tree  and  shrub  and  flower,  in 
clay  and  stone,  where  we  will  use  them.  Art  in 
the  street  has,  and  will  still  further,  put  color  on 
our  signs;  and  the  beauty  with  which  we  are  to 


112         ifmprovenient  of  Cowne  ano  Cities 


clothe  necessities  will  not  disregard  this  opportu- 
nity. Already  there  are  distinctive  colors  for  the 
fire-alarm  and  mail  boxes;  and  it  has  been  pro- 
posed in  London  that  each  parish  have  a  color  of 
its  own,  as  have  the  different  services  of  the  city. 
To  all  this  there  are  the  fluttering  flags  to  be 
added,  and  the  many  colors  of  the  vehicles  on  the 
public  way.  There  are  the  arms  of  the  city,  to  be 
emblazoned  on  municipal  structures;  and  the  city 
flag,  to  fly  in  gay  contrast  with  the  national  ensign. 
We  have  lost  the  picturesque  bright  raiment,  and 
must  watch  with  care  the  painting  of  facades;  but 
we  need  not  fear  that  civic  art  will  not  put  again 
the  witching  touch  of  color  on  city  streets.  Art 
and  beauty  for  the  thoroughfare  cannot  stop  with 
a  mere  regulation  of  design.  Color  in  exterior 
decoration  has  been  made  a  feature  already  in  the 
later  expositions,  and  expositions  create  popular 
ideals.  A  "color  scheme  " — complete  even  to  the 
clothes  poles — has  been  worked  out  for  an  indus- 
trial community  in  New  York  State,  and  has  been 
adopted,  with  the  result  that  not  a  single  color  jarSj 
that  variety  is  moulded  by  harmony. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE    TREE  S   IMPORTANCE 


IN  the  mental  picture  of  a  beautiful  city  or  village, 
the  tree  has  an  inseparable  part.  Tree-lined 
avenues,  tree-arched  streets,  the  background  of 
foliage  to  well-placed  sculpture,  the  softening  of 
stern  facades,  the  play  of  light  and  shadow  on  the 
pavement,  the  screening  of  the  sun's  glare  upon 
walk  and  window,  the  lovely  chronicle  of  the 
season's  progress  as  it  is  written  on  the  tree  where 
all  can  read  it  —  these  are  factors  of  beauty 
thrusting  themselves  at  once  upon  the  mind  as 
requisite  to  success.  They  are  universal  in  appeal. 
They  speak  only  of  the  beauty  of  all  trees,  they 
record  the  aesthetic  dependence  of  the  town  upon 
its  trees,  without  considering  the  supplemental  in- 
fluence of  single  specimens  which  may  be  grati- 
fying to  the  eye  for  grace,  loved  for  beauty  or 
splendor,  for  associations,  and  age.  The  tree- 
impersonal  is  a  mighty  factor  in  city  beauty,  and  a 
hundred  or  a  thousand  trees-personal  supplement 
its  power. 

If  the  tree,  then,  be  so  important  an  element  in 

8 

"3 


114        improvement  of  ttowns  anO  Cities 


urban  beauty,  why  has  its  value  been  so  long  dis- 
regarded; how  comes  it  that  popularly  the  tree's 
planting  and  care  are  still  so  neglected,  that  rich 
cities  submit  to  miles  of  treeless  thoroughfares,  and 
that  good  neighborhoods  have  been  content  with  a 
few  straggling  specimens  ?  Happily,  these  ques- 
tions tend  more  and  more  to  apply  to  the  past.  In 
history  we  shall  find  a  partial  answer. 

When  citizens  were  huddled  together  for  protec- 
tion and  the  streets  were  too  narrow  for  the  traffic, 
there  was  no  room  for  trees.  If  one  survived,  it 
was  an  accident,  and  there  came  to  be  a  notion,  as 
the  years  went  on  and  the  first  cause  was  forgotten, 
that  there  must  be  something  incompatible  between 
trees  and  cities.  So  the  bareness  of  the  town  was 
taken  for  granted  and  caused  no  surprise.  In  the 
new  rise  of  cities,  when  villages  have  grown  by 
natural  accretion  into  towns  and  are  no  longer 
compressed  by  walls,  more  trees  remain.  The  old 
notion  is  proved  false.  But  the  idea  that  the  street 
tree  is  private,  not  communal,  property  has  long 
continued,  and  the  householder  has  done  as  he 
pleased  with  the  tree  at  his  door.  Yet  its  civic 
value  is  appreciated  in  some  measure,  and  one 
fails  to  find  it  planted  more  universally  only  be- 
cause such  patience  is  required  for  results.  A 
man  paints  his  house,  or  lays  a  new  sidewalk,  and 
holds  his  head  higher  because  he  has  done  some- 
thing for  his  neighbor's  good  as  well  as  his  own. 
But  as  to  putting  out  trees,  whose  full  beauty  he 
may  not  live  to  enjoy,  that  is  a  demand  upon  pub- 
lic spirit  which  too  often  staggers  him. 


XTbe  Zxec'6  flmportance  us 


Still,  civic  arboriculture,  always  its  own  best 
pleader,  has  made  a  long  stride  in  the  popular  es- 
teem. Whole  streets  appear  beautifully  planted, 
and  now  and  again  they  are  so  many  that  a  city 
boasts  of  its  lovely  possession  and  gains  no  little 
fame  from  it.  A  sub-title  is  assumed,  or  bestowed, 
in  honor  of  the  trees,  and  we  read  of  "  the  Elm 
City,"  or  "  the  Forest  City."  And  then,  at  once, 
the  victory  for  city  trees  is  almost  won.  The  old 
assumption  that  they  would  not  grow  in  towns  is 
abandoned;  the  long  process  of  the  years  is  seen 
to  be  worth  the  patience  it  requires;  and  the  ques- 
tion rises  for  serious  discussion  as  to  whether  the 
tree  on  the  street  should  be  considered  public  or 
private  property,  should  be  subjected  to  public  or 
private  care. 

Opinions  differ  regarding  the  proper  responsibil- 
ity for  trees  on  city  streets.  The  one  view  vests 
all  right  and  title  to  the  tree  in  the  owner  of  the 
property  before  which  it  stands.  The  tree  is 
likened  to  the  bush  in  the  garden  or  to  the  gate- 
post. It  is  considered  in  its  relation  to  the  house 
and  the  individual,  not  in  its  relation  to  the  street 
and  the  community.  The  other  asserts  that  the 
trees  belong  to  the  city  at  large  and  that  the  indi- 
vidual has  no  more  right  to  the  tree  in  front  of  his 
own  house,  to  determine  whether  it  shall  be  re- 
moved or  pruned,  than  has  any  other  citizen. 
The  view  absolves  also  the  obligation  to  plant  that 
from  which  others  will  get  the  greater  enjoyment. 

This  latter  view  is  still,  probably,  the  less  com- 


ii6         improvement  ot  tlovvne  an&  Cittes 


mon.  It  appears  only  with  earnest  recognition  of 
the  value  of  the  tree  to  the  community;  with  the 
appreciation  that  it  is  a  highly  useful  and  decora- 
tive part  of  the  street  furnishing,  which  years  of 
growth  are  required  to  create,  though  an  hour's 
thoughtless  work  may  destroy  it,  and  that  the  tree 
whose  life  is  spared  may  bless  several  generations 
of  individuals.  The  theory  of  the  municipal  own- 
ership of  trees,  or  a  modification  of  it  which  vests 
their  control  in  the  municipality  though  individuals 
still  "  own  "  them,  is  therefore  found  where  the 
trees  are  most  valued  as  urban  ornaments.  It  is 
extending  as  regard  for  civic  aesthetics  spreads. 
It  is  the  theory  of  such  notable  cities  as  Paris  and 
Washington,  and  of  the  general  law  of  Massa- 
chusetts.' 

In  Washington,  where  the  street  trees  number 
some  eighty  thousand,  they  are  in  the  care  of  a 
special  city  commission.  A  law  of  New  Jersey 
makes  a  similar  provision  there;  and  in  Savannah, 
when  severe  storms  destroyed  many  of  the  fine 
trees,  the  citizens  took  like  action,  appointing  a 
Tree  Commission  to  restore  to  the  streets  their  lost 
beauty.  In  such  management  of  the  trees  the  ex- 
pense is  paid  from  the  city  treasury  and  in  some 
cases  the  commissions  even  maintain  nurseries. 
Numerous  communities,  less  lavish,  restrict  their 
commission  to  a  single  officer,  who  is  called  a 
"  forester  "  or  warden. 

■  Vi/.  in  Appendix  the  interesting  Massachusetts  act  of  1899. 
The  New  Jersey  law  of  1893  and  the  New  Hampshire  act  of 
1901  are  scarcely  less  interesting  or  suggestive. 


Ubc  CTree's  Umpoitancc  117 


In  yet  other  cities  where  the  theory  of  municipal 
control  is  approved,  the  trees  are  put  in  charge  of 
the  Park  Commission.  This  was  the  policy  of 
Duluth  when,  awakening  to  aesthetic  aspirations, 
it  made  the  provision  of  trees  a  city  charge  and  re- 
quired the  Park  Commission  to  satisfy  a  want  that 
ought  not  to  have  existed.  A  like  policy  is  seen  in 
the  enactment  of  the  uniform  charter  which  went 
into  effect  January  i,  1900,  in  New  York  State,  for 
the  cities  of  Rochester,  Syracuse,  Albany,  and 
Troy;  and  efforts  were  made  in  1899  and  in  1900 
to  enact  a  law  that  would  effect  the  same  result  in 
New  York."  In  still  other  cities  of  the  United 
States,  this  rule  is  made  to  apply  only  to  particu- 
lar streets — as  lately  to  Commonwealth  Avenue,  in 
Boston.  The  difference  is  one  of  degree,  not  of 
principle.  A  certain  thoroughfare  is  held,  in  the 
one  case,  to  be  so  important  an  cesthetic  asset  of 
the  city,  that  the  care  of  its  trees  should  rest  not 
in  private  hands,  but  in  representatives  of  the 
whole  community;  in  the  other  case  it  is  held  that 
every  street  may  be  an  aesthetic  asset. 

The  advantages  of  municipal  control  of  street 
trees  are  several.  They  are  negative,  in  that  it 
prevents  ruthless  destruction  or  careless  neglect. 
They  are  positive,  theoretically,  in  that  trees  are 
thus  recognized  as  factors  of  importance  in  the 
health,  the  comfort,  and  the  beauty  of  a  city;  and 
practically,  in  that  the  planting  of  the  trees  is 
then  done  systematically  and  economically,  in  that 

'Ohio  enacted  a  general  city  law  to  this  effect  in  1901. 
Minneapolis  asks  only  a  majority  petition  on  any  street. 


n8         Uniprovcmcnt  ot  ^owns  anD  Cities 


scientific  care  is  secured  for  them,  and  in  the  fact 
that  harmony  in  planting  may  be  attained  by 
adherence  to  definite  designs  for  streets  and 
neighborhoods.  Moreover,  the  system  of  central 
responsibility  and  supervision  is  much  more  com- 
prehensive. Trees  are  often  most  needed  where 
property  owners  least  appreciate  their  value. 

Let  us  turn  to  Paris,  where  the  theory  of  muni- 
cipal control  is  highly  elaborated:  The  street  trees 
number  almost  a  hundred  thousand,  though  the 
city  is  compact,  and  about  sixty  thousand  dollars  a 
year  is  expended  upon  them.  For  this  expenditure 
Paris  secures  rows  of  trees  on  all  streets  that  have 
a  width  of  twenty  metres  or  more  (sixty-five  and  a 
half  feet),  and  on  most  of  her  broad  thoroughfares 
ihere  is  a  middle  strip  planted  with  trees.  On  the 
Champs  Elysees  there  are  many  rows,  the  parks 
are  full  of  them,  and  the  quays  are  planted  with 
them.  Under  the  trees,  seats  are  provided  by  the 
city  and  its  concessionnaires — the  latter  charging  only 
two  cents  for  a  chair,  and  the  city  providing  nearly 
ten  thousand  free.  Thus  the  whole  city  may  be 
said  to  have  a  park-like  character. 

Perfection  of  system  explains  the  economy  with 
which  such  a  result  is  gained.  The  municipality 
maintains  a  large  nursery  for  trees,  and  makes  use 
of  a  very  ingenious  device  for  so  transporting  those 
well  grown  that  they  can  be  successfully  replanted. 
This  has  enabled  it  to  establish  an  interesting  tree 
hospital,  and  in  the  spring  and  fall  it  is  no  unusual 
sight  to  see  trees  that  need  the  tonic  of  fresh  air 


Zbe  Crec'3  Umportance  "9 


and  a  more  invigorating  diet  on  their  way  to  the 
hospital.     As  a  consequence  one  does  not  find  on 
Paris  streets  trees  that  show  signs  of  decay,   nor 
does  one  find  the  symmetry  of  the  vista  spoiled  by 
an  unexpected  vacancy  or  the  planting  of  a  sapling 
where  a  larger  growth  had  been.     And  at  this  ex- 
penditure, also,  the  city  secures  excellent  care  of 
the  trees  while  they   are  on   the  streets.     Nearly 
every  one  is  protected  by  a  slight  cast-iron  or  stick 
basket,  and  is  provided  at  the  base  with  an  iron 
grating  some  six  feet  wide  which  prevents  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground  from  becoming  hard  around  the 
trunk  on  even  the  busiest  thoroughfares.     Beyond 
question,  communities  that  wish  to  put  their  trees 
in  charge  of  an  official  commission  can  learn  much 
from  Paris;  and  if  there  be  a  notion  that  trees  are 
out  of  place  on  a  crowded  highway,  personal  in- 
vestigation there  is  likely  to  dispel  it.     If  this  be 
unattainable,  we  have  English  testimony.      Philip 
Gilbert  Hamerton,  in  speaking  of  such  new  boule- 
vards of   Paris   as   the  Haussmann  or  the  Males- 
herbes,   tells  his  countrymen   that   whatever  their 
pride  may  be  in  Oxford  Street  or  Piccadilly,  they 
now  will  have  to  "confess  that  here  is  the  ideal 
street  "  for  temperate  climates. 

The  principal  criticism  one  can  make  of  the  trees 
in  the  Paris  streets,  is  that  their  arrangement  is 
very  formal,  and  that  the  trees  themselves  are  too 
small.  As  to  the  first  condition,  formalism  as  op- 
posed to  naturalism  in  landscape  architecture  is  of 
course  a  matter  of  taste.  Paris  does  not,  at  least, 
go  as  far  as  some  of  the  Italian  cities  in  cutting  and 


I20         UmprovJcmcnt  of  a:own6  aiiD  Cities 


training  street  trees  into  grotesquely  artificial 
forms.  The  second,  and  more  serious  condition, 
appears  to  be  due  to  crowding  and  pruning  ;  it 
should  therefore  be  easy  to  avoid. 

In  the  American  cities  where  care  of  the  trees 
has  been  delegated  to  representatives  of  the  com- 
munity at  large,  several  general  decisions  of  im- 
portance have  been  reached.  An  early  discovery  is 
that  no  city  can  count  upon  getting  more  than  sug- 
gestions from  the  experience  of  another.  When  it 
has  been  said  that  street  trees  should  have  symmetry 
of  growth,  stateliness,  ample  foliage,  cleanliness, 
and  hardiness  (which  means,  for  one  thing,  that 
they  should  not  be  planted  too  closely);  that  they 
should  be  free  from  offensive  odors  and  in  North- 
ern cities  should  be  usually  deciduous,  so  that  the 
wonder  of  spring  may  be  an  annual  miracle,  one 
has  said  about  all  that  can  be  said  of  general  appli- 
cation. The  Tree  Commissioners  of  Washington, 
having  laid  down  substantially  these  essentials,  ex- 
perimented with  some  thirty  varieties.  -  Now  nearly 
all  the  trees  of  the  city  can  be  included  in  ten  or 
twelve  varieties. 

Another,  more  specific,  decision  is  that  it  is  well 
in  new  planting  to  alternate  trees  of  rapid  growth 
with  those  which  mature  more  slowly.  The  gain 
here  is  in  securing  shade  and  beauty  on  the  street 
in  the  interim  before  the  slower  trees  reach  ma- 
turity. As  the  latter  increase  in  size  and  demand 
more  room,  the  temporary  trees,  which  have  then 
served  their  purpose,  can  be  cut  out.  Thus,  if 
magnolias  on  a  residential  street  be  alternated  with 


Q:be  Q;ree'i5  Umportance  121 


elms,  the  street  will  be  beautiful  from  the  first. 
When  the  elms  have  grown  to  large  size,  the  mag- 
nolias can  be  removed  with  no  impairment  of  the 
beauty  of  the  street. 

A  third  point  is  that  increased  stateliness,  im- 
pressiveness,  and  charm  are  usually  secured  if  the 
permanent,  and  therefore  larger,  trees  on  any  given 
thoroughfare  be  of  one  variety.  A  street  of  elms  is 
pleasanter  to  the  eye  than  one  of  elms  and  maples 
mixed.  A  street  of  maples  loses  its  symmetry  when 
horse-chestnuts  are  interspersed.  This  conclusion 
by  no  means  involves  a  planting  of  one  kind  of  tree 
throughout  the  municipality.  Indeed,  a  most  im- 
portant discovery  is  that  different  sections  of  the 
same  city,  though  having  like  general  character- 
istics, often  are  favorable  to  the  growth  of  entirely 
different  sorts  of  trees.  Perhaps  it  ought  to  be 
said  here  that  where  there  is  uniformity  in  the 
planting  the  consequences  of  attack  by  disease  or 
insects  tend  to  be  more  serious;  and  that  it  is 
somewhat  difficult  to  maintain  the  completeness 
which  is  essential  to  success  in  uniformity.  But 
the  whole  theory  of  central  control  is  based  on  an 
assumption  of  painstaking  care  and  tireless  watch- 
fulness. It  puts  these  things  in  reach  if  there  be 
popular  demand  for  them,  and  the  statelier  arrange- 
ment ought  therefore  to  be  advocated.  The  argu- 
ment that  there  should  not  be  a  city  forester  or  a 
tree  commission  because  some  of  our  cities,  in 
securing  incompetent  service,  have  paid  the  usual 
penalty  for  purely  political  appointments,  is  to  be  as 
promptly  dismissed  as  would  an   argument  against 


122         "ffrnprovcment  ot  G;owns  an5  Cities 


municipal  government  in  all  matters  because  it  so 
often  fails.  Perhaps  it  were  well,  however,  to  urge 
at  once  that  a  city  tree  commission,  whether  it  con- 
sist of  one  person  or  a  dozen,  ought,  more  emphati- 
cally than  even  the  park  commission,  to  be  so  taken 
out  of  the  realm  of  politics  that  merit  alone  will 
determine  appointments.  If  worse  comes  to  worst, 
the  parks  are  more  or  less  isolated  and  out  of  the 
way.  Failure  with  the  trees  has  a  result  as  long- 
lived,  and  they  are  of  the  city's  very  tissue. 

A  fourth  point  is  hardly  to  be  dignified  as  more 
than  a  suggestion;  but  it  has  much  to  recommend 
it  from  an  educational  basis.  It  is  that  labels 
(artistic  in  appearance  and  inconspicuous)  be  at- 
tached to  the  trees  on  the  streets  as  well  as  in  the 
parks.  The  proposal  is  connected  only  indirectly 
with  civic  gesthetics,  though  knowledge  is,  indeed, 
a  help  to  love.  An  objection  arises  where  the 
whole  street  is  planted  with  the  same  kind  of  tree, 
in  which  case  there  would  be  needless  repetition. 
Yet  if  the  date  of  each  tree's  planting  be  added  to 
its  name,  may  there  not  be  so  created  an  emulation 
along  the  way,  and  an  interest  in  individual  trees, 
that  will  redound  largely  to  the  public  guardian- 
ship and  care  for  them  ? 

With  these  principles  in  mind,  it  appears  that  in 
communities  where  the  ownership  of  trees  is  vested 
wholly  in  private  property-holders,  the  city  might 
do  a  good  thing  if,  to  those  who  express  a  wish  to 
set  out  trees,  it  would  give  the  plants.^  The  trees 
need    cost   the    city   but  a  few  cents  each,  and  it 

^  Several  cities — most  notably  Denver — have  since  taken  up 
this  idea  with  great  success. 


Zbc  XLvce'6  llmportance  123 


would  be  economical  10  secure  their  planting  at  so 
little  expense.     There  would  be  the  further  advan- 
tage that  an  unconscious  control  could  be  exercised. 
The   city    would    give  only  those  that  were  best 
adapted  to  the  climate  and  best  suited  to  the  city, 
and  if  desired  it  could  limit  to  a  single  variety  the 
trees  for  a  particular  street.     On  the  other  hand, 
the    sensation    of    getting    something    for   nothing 
would  make  the  plan  popular  with  householders, 
and  probably  many  trees  would  be  set  out.     The 
city  would  teach  the  lesson  that  the  whole  com- 
munity was  interested   in    the    planting   and    was 
benefited  by  it.      Much  more,  also,  might  be  made 
than  now  of  Arbor  Day  in  the  United  States.      It 
ought  in  all  cities  to  be  a  day  of  civic  observance. 
But  the  problem  of  securing  trees  in  cities  is  still 
generally  that  of  interesting  and  guiding  a  multi- 
tude   of    individuals,     with    whose     tree-planting 
vagaries   and   neglect    the    municipality    does    not 
interfere.     Indirectly,    no    doubt,    the    experience 
of   the    cities    that   have    gone    into    the    subject 
with  science  and  system  is  proving  helpful.     The 
lessons  which  they  have  learned  by  study  and  ex- 
periment are  accepted  by  individuals,  and  so  the 
pruning  and  planting  of  trees  by  private  owners  is 
generally  less  erratic  and  unwise  than  might  have 
been  feared.     And  nowhere  is  there  a  lack  of  au- 
thorities to  consult.     There  is  a  copious  supply  of 
literature  on  the  subject.     The  tree-planting  socie- 
ties publish  most  specific  information  in  their  bul- 
letins   and    in     the    newspapers,    and    sometimes 
diagrams  for  the  guidance  of  private  planters,  so 
that  there  may  be  system  after  all.     The  Brooklyn 


124         Ifniprovcment  of  Cowns  an&  Cities 


society,  in  a  diagram  of  this  kind,  has  contended 
very  earnestly  that  eight  trees,  two  at  each  corner, 
should  be  planted  at  street  intersections.  The  ob- 
ject is  to  form  a  groined  arch  over  both  streets, 
where  the  dense  shade  would  do  the  greatest  good 
and  the  least  harm ;  but  the  plan  is  destructive  to 
vista  unless  the  trees  are  trimmed  very  high. 

In  general,  it  can  be  said  that  the  individual  care 
of  trees  can  come  to  little,  from  the  standpoint  of 
civic  aesthetics,  unless  there  be  also  co-operation 
and  association.  This  gives  greater  power  and  the 
broader  point  of  view.  As  was  said  in  Giotto's 
Florence,  the  "  noblest  sort  of  heart  is  that  com- 
posed of  the  united  will  of  many  citizens." 

As  most  cities  in  the  United  States  are  a  rapid 
outgrowth  of  villages,  it  is  encouraging  to  note  that 
regard  for  street  trees  has  formed  an  important 
part  of  the  creed  of  village  improvement  societies. 
To  preserve  old  trees  and  to  plant  new  while  the 
community  is  small,  and  to  teach  that  it  can  never 
grow  big  enough  to  slight  them  with  reason  or  to 
let  business  elbow  them  away,  is  almost  to  assure 
good  trees  and  large  trees  for  the  future  city.  A 
single  person  can  start,  and  usually  must  start,  the 
agitation  that  is  to  have  so  important  a  result. 

The  Laurel  Hill  Association,  of  Stockbridge, 
Mass.,  which  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  village 
improvement  society  in  the  United  States,  began 
its  operations  by  planting  more  than  four  hundred 
trees  in  its  first  year,  by  offering  prizes  for  their 
planting  by  others  and  rewards  for  evidence  leading 


XLbc  tree's  Ifmportance  12^ 


to  the  conviction  of  those  who  injured  the  trees. 
This  was  in  1853,  and  the  activity  is  now  fairly 
typical.  Some  interesting  minor  differences,  how- 
ever, can  be  illustrated.'  At  North  Adams,  such 
an  improvement  society  obtained  appropriations 
from  the  town  for  the  planting  of  trees  by  the  road- 
side and  in  public  places,  it  marked  the  trees  of 
particular  interest,  and  offered  prizes  to  children 
for  the  eggs  of  destructive  caterpillars.  In  Brook- 
line,  a  wealthy  resident  gave  two  thousand  dollars 
a  year  for  several  years  on  the  condition  that  the 
town  duplicate  the  amount  and  that  a  portion  of  it 
be  annually  spent  in  tree  planting.  At  Aiken. 
S.  C,  the  Village  Improvement  Society  appointed 
a  committee  on  the  planting  of  pine  trees,  and  it 
has  performed  a  magnificent  work.  In  other  cases, 
prizes  have  been  offered  by  private  persons  for  the 
best  rows  of  new  planting.  Each  of  these  lines 
of  effort  is  rich  in  result  and  may  be  commended. 
In  the  large  cities,  the  number  of  persons  affected 
gives  to  the  like  movement  a  pathetic  side.  It  is 
such  a  pity  that  any  mod  "i  cities  should  have 
lacked  adequate  provision  with  trees.  If  once 
the  trees  be  present,  they  are  their  own  most  elo- 
quent pleaders.  Hence  it  is  no  surprise  to  find 
them  a  general  charge,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  case 
of  Savannah,  where  the  city  has  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  their  urban  value.  But  a  type  of 
many  American   cities  is   that   which    was   short* 

'  Vd.  suggestive  and  valuable  article  on  "  Village  Improve- 
ment Societies,"  by  Mary  Caroline  Robbins,  published  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly,  February,  1897. 


ic6         Umprorcmcnt  of  ^owiis  ant)  Cities 


sightedly  planned  on  the  old,  old  model,  with  no 
trees  in  its  streets.  The  community  is  not  stirred, 
hardly  realizing  what  is  lost,  and  it  remains  for 
public-spirited  individuals  to  do  what  might  be 
done  more  comprehensively  by  the  city.  At  this 
juncture  the  tree-planting  associations  appear. 
They  are  supported  by  the  small  annual  dues  of 
members,  and  make  it  possible  for  any  one  to  secure 
the  planting  of  a  tree  before  his  property  without 
further  trouble  than  the  mailing  of  a  printed  form. 
Of  these  societies  the  most  conspicuous  are  prob- 
ably those  of  Brooklyn  and  Manhattan,  New  York. 
The  latter  was  founded  only  in  1896,  but  in  the 
single  year  of  1900  it  reported  four  thousand  trees 
set  out  through  its  efforts.  Nothing  but  the  need 
and  vastness  of  the  field  can  make  that  showing 
look  small.  The  former  association  is  probably 
the  best  known  in  the  United  States.  The  activity 
of  these  societies  is  very  great  also  along  the  lines 
of  popular  education  and  advice.  They  publish 
full  information  as  to  the  variety  of  tree  most  suit- 
able for  selection,  as  to  how  and  when  to  plant, 
where  to  obtain  the  trees,  and  the  cost  of  the  work; 
they  distribute  circulars  regarding  the  care  of  trees, 
call  attention  to  any  threatened  injury  by  insects, 
and  recommend  safeguards.  The  Brooklyn  society 
has  also  published  circulars  addressed  to  children, 
enlisting  their  interest  in  street  trees;  and  it  is 
claimed  that  one  of  its  circulars  on  the  injury  which 
horses  may  do  by  gnawing  the  bark  was  put  in  the 
hands  of  practically  every  horse  owner  and  driver 
in  the  city.     The  societies  have  also  become  inter- 


XLbe  Zvec's  Umportancc  127 


ested  in  legislation  for  the  protection  of  trees, 
especially  in  that  which  would  prohibit  the  affixing 
of  advertisements,  and  they  have  made  familiar, 
first  in  pictures  and  then  in  reality,  the  wonder- 
ful aesthetic  transformation  when  a  city  block, 
previously  bare  of  trees,  has  been  planted  with 
them. 

There  are  other  tree-planting  societies.  When 
one  was  formed  in  Buffalo  in  the  early  winter  of 
1898  it  was  asserted  by  a  speaker  at  one  of  the 
meetings  that  for  almost  thirty  years  the  city  had 
had  authority  to  plant  trees  and  assess  the  cost  to 
the  lot  owner,  if  the  latter  failed  to  plant  them  him- 
self, but  that  it  had  never  once  exercised  this  right. 
The  instance  is  a  good  illustration  of  how  little 
worth  are  ordinances,  if  public  opinion  does  not 
earnestly  support  them.  In  Indianapolis,  an  inter- 
esting work  in  arboriculture  has  been  done  by  wo- 
men who,  banded  in  the  Park  Memorial  Tree 
Association,  plant  memorial  trees  with  appropriate 
ceremonies.  In  Rochester  some  years  ago,  when 
the  city's  shade  trees  were  threatened  with  de- 
struction by  worms,  a  crusade  of  school  children 
against  the  cocoons  was  inaugurated  by  the  Genesee 
Valley  Forestry  Association.  Prizes  were  offered, 
the  attack  was  two  or  three  times  renewed,  each 
time  with  extravagant  success,  and  danger  passed. 
A  like  course  has  been  adopted  in  Buffalo  and  other 
cities.  In  Kansas  City  a  Tree  Planters'  Society 
was  formed  in  the  spring  of  1899,  and  it  is  claimed 
that  in  a  year  seven  thousand  trees  were  set  out, 
and  five  thousand  more  provided  for.     In  St,  Louis 


128         Umprorcment  of  Cowns  anD  Qitice 


the  Real  Estate  Exchange  has  lately  appointed  a 
tree-planting  bureau. 

Much  is  accomplished  also  by  associations  of 
general  purpose,  which  take  up  tree  planting  as  only 
one  department  of  their  activity,  as  do  the  village 
improvement  societies.  In  Boston,  for  instance, 
there  are  suburban  neighborhood  associations 
which  furnish  trees  to  any  citizens  who  apply  for 
them,  at  no  other  cost  than  the  promise  to  plant 
them  in  proper  alignment  and  in  good  soil.  The 
strong  Civic  Club  (of  women)  in  Philadelphia,  has 
had  for  several  years  a  "  committee  on  forestry." 
The  Metropolitan  Public  Gardens  Association  of 
London  does  a  great  deal  of  tree  planting,  and  the 
Cockburn  Association  in  Edinburgh,  making  civic 
beauty  its  object,  lays  emphasis  year  after  year  in 
its  report  on  the  value  of  trees  for  the  adornment 
of  cities.  It  has  said,  rather  significantly,  that 
"when  the  work  of  the  association  first  commenced 
(1875)  the  planting  of  trees  on  the  broad  thorough- 
fares of  the  city  was  scarcely  dreamt  of,"  and  it 
quotes  this  quaint  bit  of  advice  from  an  old-time 
Scotch  laird,  speaking  to  his  son,  "  Be  aye  stickin' 
in  a  bit  tree.  The  trees  will  be  growin'  when  ye 
are  sleepin'," 

The  result  of  the  Cockburn  Association's  ex- 
perience, it  may  be  well  to  add,  is  that  it  urges, 
after  long  consideration  and  expert  advice,  that  the 
city  retain  a  forester.  The  Brooklyn  Tree  Plant- 
ing Association,  which  has  thrown  the  weight  of  its 
influence  in  behalf  of  the  theory  of  private  owner- 
ship  for  street  trees,    urges  t'le  establishment  of 


Cbe  Zvcc*e  Umportance  129 


neighborhood  clubs  and  then  the  employment  of 
foresters,  who  shall  be  workers,  not  merely  over- 
seers, for  the  small  districts.  It  believes  that  "  if  a 
city  be  divided  into  sections  in  such  a  manner,  the 
foresters  will  take  great  interest  and  a  commend- 
able rivalry  will  arise."  A  few  such  clubs  have 
been  established.  They  have  the  advantage  of 
providing  the  co-operation  so  necessary  where  the 
control  rests  with  individuals.'  The  annual  report 
for  1897-9S  of  the  City  Improvement  Society  of 

'  The  plan  of  the  Brooklyn  association  is  for  districts  of  one 
thousand  lots.  The  residents  of  these,  combining  for  united 
action,  would  employ  a  forester.  It  says  :  "Allowing  him  a 
salary  of  one  thousand  dollars  a  year  and  an  additional  sum, 
say  one  hundred  dollars,  to  secure  assistance  where  two  are 
necessary  for  any  particular  work,  as  in  spraying,  pruning, 
and  removing  large  trees,  would  secure  an  able  and  active 
man.  Should  such  a  system  of  organizations  be  established, 
men  competent  to  take  the  position  of  forester  would  be  forth- 
coming. Such  a  system  would  inspire  foresters  to  learn  all 
they  could  about  trees  and  their  management,  and  they  would 
have  a  just  pride  in  the  appearance  of  their  section.  Incom- 
petency would  be  followed  by  dismissal.  After  the  removal 
of  undesirable  trees  and  planting  new  ones  where  needed,  an 
assessment  of  $i.io  per  lot  per  annum  would  insure  excellent 
care  of  trees  and  relieve  people  from  further  trouble.  One 
thousand  lots  twenty  feet  wide  would  furnish  room  for  five 
hundred  medium-sized  trees,  which  should  be  set  forty  feet 
apart.  Large-growing  trees  should  be  placed  still  farther 
apart.  There  may  be  some  small  ornament  between  trees. 
Although  trees  are  on  alternate  lots,  every  lot  has  an  equal 
interest  in  them  and  should  contribute  for  their  maintenance." 
The  point  of  view  is,  of  course,  that  of  a  densely  built-up  city. 
Broader  lots  would  mean  fewer  residents  in  the  area  and  per- 
haps one  or  more  trees  before  every  lot. 
9 


I30         Ifmprovcment  o(  tlowns  aiiD  Cttles 


Denver  says:  "  Our  committee,  after  long  study 
of  methods  adopted  in  the  older  towns  and  cities, 
advocate  the  appointment  of  a  city  forester,  to 
whom  shall  be  given  the  sole  right  to  prune  the 
trees  outside  the  lot  line."  In  Massachusetts  a  law 
passed  in  1899  requires  each  town  of  the  State  to 
elect  a  tree  warden.  In  Connecticut  the  State 
Agricultural  Society  has  urged  the  appointment  of 
foresters  by  cities. 

In  the  discussion  of  trees  for  cities,  the  effort 
here  has  been  to  keep  in  mind  only  their  aesthetic 
importance.  The  argument  in  their  behalf  can, 
however,  be  greatly  strengthened  by  consideration 
of  their  sanitary  value.  The  foliage  inhales  car- 
bonic acid  and  exhales  oxygen.  As  a  result,  the 
diseases  incidental  to  heat  are  less  prevalent  in 
streets  where  there  are  large  trees.  The  leaves 
absorb,  also,  the  poisonous  gases  generated  by  the 
decomposition  of  animal  and  vegetable  matter  in 
hot  weather.  Their  shade,  which  is  pleasant  to 
see,  is  also  cool.  There  is  less  direct  heat  and  less 
reflected  heat;  while  in  winter  the  trees  actually 
radiate  warmth. 

The  importance  of  this  sanitary  value  of  trees  to 
cities  is  illustrated  by  the  following  resolution, 
passed  at  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  County 
Medical  Society:  "  Resolved,  That  one  of  the 
most  effective  means  for  mitigating  the  intense 
heat  of  the  summer  months  and  diminishing  the 
death  rate  among  children  is  the  cultivation  of  an 
adequate  number  of  trees  in  the  streets."     It  may 


I 
I 


^be  Zxcc'6  Umportance  131 


be  illustrated  further  by  the  fact  that  the  bill  which 
was  presented  to  the  legislature  in  1899,  to  put  the 
care  of  the  street  trees  of  New  York  City  in  charge 
of  the  Park  Commissioners,  was  drawn  by  a  physi- 
cian, a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  and 
was  introduced  as  a  merely  sanitary  measure.  Here 
again,  therefore,  the  requirements  of  modern  hy- 
giene give  a  substantial  basis  to  the  appeal  of 
municipal  aesthetics.  Each  is  stronger  for  the 
other's  aid. 

A  popular  recognition  of  the  sanitary  importance 
of  trees  on  city  thoroughfares  may  lighten  the  labors 
of  the  workers  for  city  beauty,  but  it  will  not  re- 
lieve them  of  the  need  of  activity  in  behalf  of  this 
indispensable  phase  of  urban  decoration.  It  will 
be  still  incumbent  upon  them  to  choose  the  trees, 
to  secure  care  and  harmony  in  the  planting,  and 
watchful  guardianship  thereafter  for  the  beauty  of 
the  street.  The  beautiful  city  cannot  do  without 
trees,  trees  that  are  graceful,  strong,  and  numerous. 
Let  us  make,  if  we  will,  their  sanitary  value  the 
basis  for  municipal  control  of  them ;  but  then,  for 
the  sake  of  their  great  possible  beauty,  they  should 
be  put  in  charge  of  a  commission  of  expert  knowl- 
edge and  aesthetic  ideals.  Let  us,  finally,  yield 
ourselves,  in  the  city  of  all  places,  to  the  frame  of 
mind  which  was  Ruskin's  in  exclaiming,  "  What  a 
thought  that  was  when  God  thought  of  a  tree!  " 


CHAPTER   VIII 


POSSIBILITIES   OF    GARDENING 


I 


THE  phrase  rics  in  urbe  has  long  called  up  a 
pleasant  picture.  It  has  suggested  an  attain- 
ment of  a  goal  like  that  of  the  homely  saying  about 
eating  one's  cake  and  having  it  still.  But  a  change 
of  significance  has  gradually  taken  place  in  the 
vision  that  the  phrase  presents  :  from  the  villa, 
garden-circled — like  a  flowery  island  in  a  city's 
ocean  of  brick  and  stone — we  have  passed  to  the 
thought  of  tree-lined  streets,  of  walks  grass-bor- 
dered, and  of  flower-jewelled  squares.  Selfishness 
has  changed  to  civic  pride  with  a  triumph  of 
philanthropy  and  sanitation.  Rus  in  urbe  is  no 
more  an  island.  It  becomes  a  river,  flowing  through 
all  the  streets  and  by-ways,  and  forming  in  squares 
and  parks  little  ponds  and  lakes  of  country.  As 
Venice  is  said  to  ride  the  sea,  so  in  the  new  picture 
rus  in  urbe  means  urbs  in  rure. 

We  have  seen  that  vegetation  is  an  important 
factor  in  the  coloring  of  a  town.  Much  more  than 
that  can  be  said  of  it.  As  appeared  in  the  special 
case  of  trees,  it  has  many  hygienic  merits.     These 

132 


posBlbtlitics  of  (BarDenlng  133 


are  not  merely  physical.  The  grateful  effect  upon 
the  nerves  of  the  shade  of  trees  in  summer,  of  the 
bright  flowers  in  parks  and  window  boxes,  of  the 
rich  foliage  of  vines,  is  so  akin  to  sensuous  pleasure 
that  it  slips  indistinguishably  into  the  realm  of  aes- 
thetic charm.  The  urban  vegetation  makes  us 
happy  and  does  us  good,  until  we  hardly  know 
which  effect  comes  first.'  Calmly,  coldly,  criti- 
cally regarded,  it  all  gives  color  to  city  streets, 
softens  architectural  outlines,  and  so  adds  to  city 
beauty.  But,  above  all,  the  trees,  flowers,  and 
vines  are  beautiful  in  themselves  and  please  on 
that  account.  We  are  children  of  nature,  and  it  is 
a  strange  and  pathetic  thing  that  men  should  ever 
have  thought  that  because  mutual  dependence 
huddled  them  together  into  cities  they  must  leave 
the  country  behind,  foregoing  its  easily  gained 
delights.  For  the  idea  is  almost  recent  that  the 
country  can  be  brought  into  the  city  and  made 
common  property.  In  the  cities  of  classic  days 
such  a  luxury  belonged  only  to  the  rich  and  noble. 
From  the  medieval  cities,  enclosed  in  walls  and 
avoided  by  princes,  the  country  was  shut  out,  and 
men  came  to  think  that  trees  and  flowers  would  not 
grow  where  the  sun  shone  and  the  rain  fell,  where 

•  It  may  be  worth  while  to  note  that  in  Detroit  in  1899  up- 
wards of  three  hundred  thousand  flowering  plants,  and  more 
than  five  thousand  vines,  were  set  out  by  the  city,  in  the 
boulevards  and  to  dress  city  property.  The  record  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  that  of  an  unusual  year,  nor  out  of  pro- 
portion to  the  city's  size  ;  but  one  can  imagine  the  aggregate 
result. 


134         Umprovcmcnt  of  Cowns  aiiD  Cities 


birds  sang  and  little  children  played  —  if  the  place 
were  called  a  city.  When  the  walls  had  come  down 
and  there  was  room  enough,  vegetation  was  still  neg- 
lected. It  was  because  of  that  theory,  and  not  on 
account  of  paving,  of  soot,  or  gas  leakage,  as  we 
shame-facedly  and  untruly  say  in  trying  to  justify 
a  faith  in  inherited  tradition,  for  these  things  are 
attributes  of  only  modern  cities.  But  the  old 
municipalities  had  had  an  excuse  to  offer.  They 
were  usually  not  so  large  that  the  citizen  could 
not  get  to  the  country  when  he  pleased;  and  the 
entire  lack  of  transit  facilities  justified  his  wish  to 
live  as  near  as  might  be  to  his  daily  business. 
The  change  that  is  bringing  the  country  into  the 
city  is  neither  in  the  heart  of  man,  nor  in  nature. 
It  is  economic,  even  mechanical.  The  blessing 
which  rapid-transit  has  conferred  upon  humanity 
is  the  mingling  it  makes  possible  of  the  city  and 
the  country. 

We  shall  have  occasion  to  speak,  in  another 
place,  of  those  parks  and  playgrounds  that  are  the 
artificial  lakes  and  ponds  of  the  river  of  country, 
as  it  is  encouraged  to  flow  through  modern  cities. 
There  will  be  enough  to  say  here,  if  we  try  to  pic- 
ture only  the  joyous,  health-giving,  beautiful 
stream  running  through  the  long  streets,  eddying 
in  little  gardens  around  the  homes,  and  laving  the 
stern  and  bare  fafades  of  business  blocks  until 
"  the  Bride  of  the  Sea  "  finds  rivals  in  cities  flower- 
decked  and  garlanded.  Such  pseudonymes  as 
"  the  Garden  City,"  or  "  the  Flower  City,"  should 
suggest  marriages  not  less  lovely,  and  more  prac- 


possibilities  of  ©arDcning  135 


tical  and  appropriate,  than  was  the  poetic  wedding 
of  Venice  to  the  Adriatic. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  attraction  of 
parking  and  gardening  is  meant  only  for  the  out- 
skirts of  the  city,  that  the  river  of  country  can  flow 
through  none  but  quiet  streets  when  the  need  of 
its  refined  beauty  and  gentle  influence  is  obviously 
great  in  the  stress  and  turmoil  of  business.  Even 
in  sections  as  crowded  as  those  in  the  heart  of 
Paris,  a  middle  strip  of  the  roadway,  or  a  strip  on 
one  or  both  sides,  can  be  spared  for  planting  with 
trees,  and  sometimes  for  sowing  with  grass  and 
adornment  with  flowers. 

When  a  new  thoroughfare  is  to  be  opened,  it  is 
often  well  to  plan  for  this,  making  the  way  broader 
than  the  traffic  requires.  Can  it  be  thought  that 
Paris  is  poorer  for  the  width  of  the  Champs  Elysees 
and  of  her  boulevards,  or  Berlin  for  the  breadth  of 
the  Unter  den  Linden,  which  gains  its  very  name 
from  the  middle  decorative  strip  ?  Yet  in  each 
case  the  traffic  is  heavy  and  the  property  values 
high.  The  trees  grow  more  easily  here  than  on 
streets  fully  paved,  beauty  and  attractiveness  are 
added  to  the  town,  and  almost  always  the  enhanced 
value  of  the  property  on  either  side  of  a  thorough- 
fare so  improved  is  found  great  enough  in  itself  to 
pay  the  cost  of  the  extra  width.  Thus,  without 
net  loss,  the  city  is  made  lovelier  —  and  lovelier 
where  the  greatest  numbers,  and  the  most  needing, 
can  enjoy  the  change. 

If  a  whole  street  cannot  be  treated  in  this  way,  a 


136         "ffrnpropement  ot  XLowws  anO  Cities 


short  section  may  be.  When  a  congested  portion 
of  Paris  was  torn  out  to  make  room  for  the  Boule- 
vard St.  Germain,  for  instance,  brief  spaces  ap- 
peared where  the  street  was  of  uneven  width.  The 
narrowest  point  was  taken  as  determining  the  proper 
alignment,  and  the  space  left  over  in  the  wider 
sections  beyond  one  curb  was  then  planted  with 
double  rows  of  trees.  In  this  way  the  regularity 
of  the  street's  perspective  was  maintained,  and 
the  thoroughfare  yet  had  the  benefit  of  a  sense  of 
broader  space,  as  it  would  hardly  have  had  if  the 
extra  area  had  been  railed  off  into  an  exclusive 
park  or  "  square."  The  alternative  of  attaching 
this  area  to  the  fronting  buildings  as  gardens  would 
shortly  have  meant  construction  upon  it. 

From  a  philanthropic  standpoint,  also,  much  can 
be  thus  gained.  It  would  cost  no  more,  when  the 
opportunity  offers,  to  give  parking  to  a  street 
through  the  tenement  district  than  to  lay  out  a  new 
playground  or  "  square."  Assume  the  artistic 
results  to  be  equal,  which  is  granting  more  than  is 
fair,  and  the  former  plan  is  best,  for  the  domestic 
advantages  to  be  secured  by  the  parking  of  a 
street  are  larger  than  those  to  be  gained  by  clearing 
out  a  block.  We  have,  not  flowers  and  grass  that 
need  to  be  fenced;  but  down  the  middle  or  side  of 
the  full  length  of  street  just  a  broad  strip  of  earth 
planted  with  trees  —  a  cool  walk  and  a  city  chil- 
dren's paradise.  The  latter  acquirement  asks  no 
apology.  For  the  former,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
Latin  races  like  to  find  out-of-doors  their  larger 
home.     A  writer,  who  was  speaking  of  the  typical 


poesibilities  of  ©arOcnlng  137 


Parisian,  might  have  been  referring  to  a  member  of 
any  of  these  races  when  saying:  "  He  comes  down- 
stairs to  the  street;  he  descends  to  his  thorough- 
fare as  the  millionaire  expects  to  descend  to  his 
breakfast  room  or  his  study.  Whatever  the  gloom 
of  the  house,  his  street,  catering  to  his  need  of 
color,  variety,  beauty,  and  movement,  helps  him 
to  feel  good."  And  if  his  street  does  this,  his 
town  is  the  fairer.  The  city  can  well  afford  to 
yield  to  so  innocent  and  joyous  a  need. 

Yet,  when  all  is  said,  parking — which  is  usu- 
ally understood  to  mean  treatment  of  the  street 
with  a  strip  of  tree-planted  lawn  —  is  more  particu- 
larly characteristic  of  high-class  residence  districts. 
It  is  well  adapted  to  them,  since  the  traffic  there 
is  lighter,  the  property  value  lower  than  in  the 
business  section,  and  the  desire  of  the  householder 
rather  to  be  back  from,  than  directly  upon,  the 
street.  The  city  which  puts  a  bit  of  greensward 
on  the  public  way  before  a  house,  and  plants  it  with 
several  rows  of  trees,  adds  just  so  much  to  the 
front  garden  of  that  house;  and  if,  as  often  now 
in  the  newer  streets,  the  trees  be  supplemented  by 
artistic  groups  of  flowering  shrubs  and  by  beds  of 
flowers,  the  householder's  walk  home  ceases  at  that 
point  to  be  purely  urban.  It  is  transformed  into  a 
garden  walk.  Cares  and  work  are  left  behind  so 
much  the  sooner,  and  the  softening  influence  of 
nature's  beauty  calms  the  nerves  and  soothes  the 
spirit.  When  a  residence  street  is  treated  in  this 
way,  the  householder  who  is  unwilling  to  do  his 
part  in  the  maintenance  of  its  beauty  by  caring  for 


138         IFmprovemcnt  of  ^owns  anO  Cities 


his  share  of  public  lawn,  is  a  species  of  short- 
sighted and  selfish  humanity  which  is  yet  to  be 
discovered.  As  for  the  beauty  of  the  city,  what  a 
stride  it  makes! 

Were  it  necessary  always  to  await  municipal 
action,  the  localities  improved  by  parking  would 
be  small.  But  the  result  can  be  attained  in  other 
ways.  In  the  United  States,  some  residence  sec- 
tions of  St.  Louis  offer  a  conveniently  emphatic 
illustration  of  the  attainment  of  an  oasis  of  rus  in 
urbe  by  concerted  effort  on  the  part  of  private  per- 
sons. They  join  together  to  establish  a  private 
park,  and  able,  by  united  action,  to  resist  the  ad- 
vance of  trade,  manufacture,  or  rapid-transit  within 
the  bounds  of  their  domain,  they  charmingly  situ- 
ate handsome  houses  in  grounds  which  are  admir- 
ably laid  out  and  perfectly  maintained.  Quiet 
and  seclusion  are  thus  secured.  Fences  are  re- 
moved, and  in  the  midst  of  the  city  there  is  created 
a  bit  of  artistically  planted  country  which  not 
merely  is  beautiful  in  itself,  but  casts  a  gentle  and 
pleasant  influence  far  beyond  its  own  limits. 

In  suburban  property  a  like  result  may  be 
gained,  with  greater  ease,  by  owners  of  large  estates 
wisely  planning  ?.t  the  start  for  such  development, 
laying  out  streets  wide  enough  to  permit  of  gener- 
ous parking  and  lots  broad  enough  for  gardens. 
Since  rapid-transit  has  made  distant  property  desir- 
able, this  treatment  rarely  fails  in  a  financial  sense. 
So  the  advancing  city  does  not  press  the  country 
back,  but  goes  to  it  with  outstretched,  open  arms. 


poeslblUtica  of  (BarDening  139 


The  telephone  and  trolley  have,  fortunately  for 
the  cause  of  beautiful  cities,  now  broken  down  the 
barrier  between  the  city  and  the  country  so  effect- 
ually that  even  in  outlying  districts  where  rents  are 
low  aesthetic  care  appears.  An  important  part,  for 
instance,  of  the  activity  of  the  City  and  Suburban 
Homes  Company  of  New  York,  is  in  the  setting 
out  of  model  neighborhoods.  And  these  aie 
planned  in  their  entirety  from  an  artistic  point  of 
view.  A  prospectus,  which  is  a  fair  type  of  many, 
announces  houses  pretty  in  themselves,  of  varied 
but  harmonious  architecture,  macadamized  streets, 
"  well-laid  sidewalks,  lines  of  shade  trees,  terraced 
sites,  and  a  perspective  of  fifteen  feet  of  lawn  in 
front  of  the  houses."  Here  is  promised  a  "  resi- 
dence park  "  on  a  small  scale. 

Beauty  in  cities,  however,  owes  much  more  to 
rapid-transit  than  if  merely  the  acquirement  of 
pretty  suburbs  were  thereby  rendered  possible. 
Transit  facilities  not  only  break  down  the  old  bar- 
rier between  city  and  country  by  leading  the  city 
into  the  country,  but  they  entice  the  country  into 
the  city,  which  is  a  thing  to  be  differentiated. 
Rapid-transit's  first  accomplishment  is  to  widen 
the  available  residence  area.  When  it  has  rendered 
a  point  four  miles  from  the  city  hall  no  further 
distant  in  time  than  a  point  two  miles  from  the 
centre  had  been,  it  has  doubled  the  diameter  of 
that  area  which  is  adapted  to  residence.  There 
results  decrease  in  congestion.  The  space  for- 
merly in  full  demand  for  building  may  now  spare 


MO         Ifmprovemeiit  of  ITowns  anO  Cities 


some  inches  for  flowers  and  turf;  the  houses  that 
must  soon  at  least  have  been  built  in  blocks  may- 
have  gardens  around  them.  The  stream  of  coun- 
try which  is  flowing  through  the  broad  streets,  with 
all  its  attributes  of  welcome  beauty  —  and  with  as- 
sociations and  moral  influence  worth  more  perhaps 
than  is  realized  —  has  room  to  eddy  around  the 
homes.  At  once  domestic  gardening  becomes  an 
inevitably  precious  factor  in  city  beauty. 

The  example  of  private  residence  parks,  of 
parking  by  the  city  on  a  few  streets,  and  of 
the  artistic  development  of  suburban  property,  has 
taught  a  lesson  that  is  heeded.  The  wide  brick 
sidewalks  overgrown  with  grass,  once  found  in  the 
residence  quarters  of  the  older  cities,  give  way  to 
narrower  cement  walks  with  an  orderly  strip  of 
grass  between  walk  and  curb;  the  front  fences 
come  down  and  the  side  fences  as  far  as  the  build- 
ing line.  By  a  united  action,  none  the  less  efficient 
because  informal  and  unconfessed,  old  streets  take 
on  a  new  beauty.  The  gardens  are  put  in  the 
charge  of  landscape  architects,  experts  who  know 
how  to  group  artistically,  and  the  beauty  thus 
secured  becomes  a  new  source  of  public  pleasure. 
Let  us  make  some  extracts  from  a  large  group  of 
suggestive  and  specific  examples: 

In  Williamstown,  Mass.,  some  years  ago,  the 
people  were  persuaded  to  remove  their  front  fences 
by  a  promise  from  Cyrus  W.  Field  that  he  would 
personally  present  $10,000  to  the  Village  Im- 
provement Association  when  the  last  one  had  been 
taken  down.     In  Brooklyn,  where  the  Tree  Plant- 


pO00lbtlittcd  of  (3ar0cnind  141 


ing  and  Fountain  Association  includes  in  its  pro- 
fession of  objects  the  phrase,  "  and  otherwise  to 
render  the  city  of  Brooklyn  attractive,"  the  dis- 
placement of  fences  and  conversion  of  courtyards 
into  well-kept  grass  plots  is  one  of  the  subjects  of 
agitation.  The  removal  of  the  wilderness  of  flag- 
ging around  the  old  city  hall  there,  in  order  that 
grass  might  be  substituted,  effected  a  change  which 
the  whole  community  applauded,  though  at  first  it 
was  thought  visionary  and  unpractical.  In  the 
suburbs  the  promoter  of  a  new  residence  section 
is  offering  cash  prizes  for  the  greatest  improvement 
in  the  home-grounds  of  his  district.  In  Edin- 
burgh, the  Cockburn  Association  has  made  the 
abolition  of  the  railings  in  front  of  public  and  other 
buildings,  and  the  screening  of  unsightly  erections 
with  trees  and  vines,  a  detail  of  its  crusade  for  city 
beauty.  So,  far  and  near,  in  public  and  private, 
there  is  recognition  of  the  value  of  gardening,  for 
its  own  beauty,  and  as  an  advantageous  setting  to 
architecture.  It  is  adopted  not  only  because  the 
city  orders  it,  or  merely  because  a  land-owner  sees 
money  in  it,  but  because  the  people  love  grass  and 
trees  and  flowers.  And  the  progress,  as  ever,  rests 
with  the  people. 

There  is  an  interesting  expression,  by  the  way, 
of  national  characteristics  in  the  form  taken  by  this 
private  encouragement  of  nature  in  the  city.  Con- 
tiguous gardening  and  parking,  which  is  so  familiar 
in  the  streets  of  American  cities,  is  almost  unknown 
in  Europe  save  where  the  latter  is  decreed  by  mu- 
nicipalities.      Private   persons,    left    to    their   own 


X42         Umprovement  of  Cowns  ant>  Cities 


resources,  still  indeed  bring  the  country  to  their 
city  homes;  but  like  the  nobles  of  long  ago  they 
hide  it  behind  high  walls,  shut  it  out  from  the 
street  with  stone  and  brick,  and  give  no  more  than 
a  glimpse,  over  the  top  of  the  wall  or  through  the 
gate,  of  the  beauty  they  have  secured  and  kept  for 
themselves.  The  gardens  do  not  blend  indistin- 
guishably  into  one  another,  and  the  lawns  are  not 
open  to  the  street.  That  is  a  development  left, 
not  improperly,  to  a  democracy.  American  civic 
beauty  gains  much  by  this.  The  street  shut  off 
from  the  house-gardens  is  only  a  walled  lane  and 
can  be  inexpressibly  beautified  if  the  walls  be 
taken  down.  Then  the  narrow  way  is  widened 
and  has  parking  in  spite  of  itself. 

Similarly,  the  squares  so  common  in  the  better 
residence  quarters  of  London  are  enclosed  by  irori 
fences,  to  the  gates  of  which  the  abutting  house- 
holders alone  have  keys.  A  landlord,  instead  of 
laying  out  a  broad  street,  with  a  strip  of  nature 
through  its  centre,  has  plotted  his  holding  into 
squares.  In  the  centre  of  each  of  these  he  has 
planted  a  common  garden,  and  railed  it  about  and 
locked  the  gate.  Those  tenants  who  want  a  play- 
ground for  their  children  may  pay  for  the  privilege, 
as  they  pay  already  an  extra  rent  because  their 
front  windows  face  trees  instead  of  houses.  What- 
ever civic  beauty  the  garden  gives,  is  plainly  la- 
belled  "  exclusive  "  by  the  fence.  A  sharp  class 
distinction  is  drawn;  and  the  beauty  that  should 
be  municipal,  and  therefore  free  to  all,  is  made  a 
class,  almost  a  personal,  possession.     The  popular 


poss(b(lttic9  of  ©arDening  143 


loss  is  not  of  a  square,  but  of  parking  and  a  vista 
of  lawns,  and  there  has  been  injected  into  municipal 
art  an  element  of  aristocracy  which  is  utterly  an- 
tagonistic to  it. 

If  contiguous  gardening  be  peculiar  rather  of 
those  smaller  cities  where  adornment  by  vegetation 
might  be  expected  than  of  a  metropolis,  the  duty 
of  the  private  citizen  in  the  latter  is  not  lessened. 
Though  there  be  no  gardens,  there  yet  must  be 
domestic  gardening.  At  worst,  there  are  the  front 
walls,  the  steps,  and  the  window  ledges;  and  na- 
ture in  many  a  canon  shows  how  to  give  life,  color, 
and  gentle  beauty  to  cold  stone.  There  is  no 
reason  why  even  the  closest  built-up  street  should 
be  a  dreary  gorge. 

It  is  a  rare  facade  in  domestic  architecture  that 
cannot  be  beautified  by  the  soft  and  clinging  green 
of  a  vine.  This  will  pick  out  and  emphasize  a 
good  detail;  it  will  soften  lines;  and  half  covering 
a  crude  device',  it  will  reveal  only  enough  to  sug- 
gest something  better  than  the  reality.  It  will  give 
beauty  to  a  shadowy  corner,  warmth  where  all  was 
cold;  and  now  and  then  allowed  free,  luxuriant 
play,  it  will  draw  its  protecting,  beautifying  cloak 
around  a  hideous  exterior  and  make  it  fair  and 
cool  as  the  wall  of  a  sylvan  retreat.  Perhaps,  in 
its  season,  it  will  deck  the  ugly  fajade  with  fairy 
clusters  and  garlands  of  flowers. 

Of  late  years  the  Japanese  Ivy,  sometimes  called 
the  Boston  Ivy,  on  account  of  the  enthusiasm  witn 
which  it  was  adopted  in  Boston,  has  been  a  boon 


144         flmprovement  ot  C;own6  an&  Ctties 


to  the  streets  of  many  cities.  There  is  no  doubt  a 
tendency  to  plant  it  indiscriminately  and  to  let  it 
cover  what  were  better  shown ;  but  on  the  whole, 
from  an  artistic  standpoint,  it  has  been  a  public 
benefactor.  It  covers  blank  walls,  monotonous 
fronts,  and  meaningless  eccentricities  of  structure 
with  a  waving  curtain  —  of  emerald  in  summer,  of 
the  sunset's  glory  in  the  fall,  and  always  of  nature's 
perfect  taste.  In  its  little  leaves  the  summer  wind 
plays  as  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  now  disclos- 
ing hollows  deep  and  cool,  now  lifting  into  the  sun- 
shine the  crests  of  lighter  green.  It  does  not  allow 
the  memory  of  nature  to  pass  from  city  streets; 
and  since,  from  even  the  architectural  standpoint, 
there  are  so  many  building  walls  that  are  far  bet- 
ter when  screened  than  shown,  it  is  scant  wonder 
that  some  urban  societies  have  appeared  for  the 
encouragement  of  vine  planting.  The  progress  in 
this  direction  has  been  rapid,  however,  and  the 
societies  ought  now  to  add,  certainly  in  the  case  of 
the  Japanese  Ivy,  instruction  in  pruning  and  dis- 
crimination in  planting,  to  their  general  advocacy 
of  the  merits  of  vines. 

For  the  growth  of  a  vine  there  has  to  be  a  little 
earth  at  the  base  of  the  wall.  Sometimes  the  flag- 
ging takes  that  away.  Then  the  steps  and  window 
ledges  alone  remain,  while  the  need  of  nature's 
brightening  touch  has  grown  so  much  the  greater. 
For  many  years,  on  the  steps  of  great  houses  in 
European  capitals,  it  has  been  customary  to  have 
a  formal  arrangement  of  ornamental  greenery. 
Italian  laurel,  dwarf  cedars,  English  yew  or  haw- 


possibilities  of  OarDening  145 


thorne,  or  Dutch  box,  stands  in  green-painted 
tubs;  and  pansies  or  other  little  flowers  fill  sculp- 
tured vases.  The  device  is  expensive  and  makes 
no  pretense  of  naturalness;  but  the  straits  are  sore. 
The  custom  is  working  its  way  into  the  United 
States,  and  when  there  can  be  never  so  little  of 
the  free  and  careless  play  of  nature,  it  is  to  be  com- 
mended. It  steals  at  least  some  hardness  and  mo- 
notony from  close-set  residence  streets,  or  makes  a 
fringe  of  wavering  delicacy  in  the  angle  of  pave- 
ment and  wall.  One  noted,  as  a  half-hidden 
beauty  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago, 
beds  of  pansies  nestled  against  the  fagade  of  one 
of  the  largest  buildings.  The  same  touching  and 
lovely  wonder  of  contrast  may  be  seen  to-day  on 
many  a  city  street. 

The  adornment  that  can  be  thus  given  to  steps 
and  lower  windows  should  be  easier  as  one  ascends. 
Window  ledges  of  upper  stories  can  be  well  spared 
for  flowers  where  no  one  is  expected  to  look  in, 
and  the  available  space  that  may  b^  narrow  on  the 
porch  itself  is  ample  on  its  roof.  In  the  old-world, 
where  city  gardens  have  not  been  constant  urban 
elements,  this  opportunity  is  better  valued  and 
availed  of  than  with  us.  London  in  summer  is  not 
the  flowerless  desert  that  it  might  so  easily  have 
been.  June's  profusion  of  geraniums  and  daisies 
is  succeeded  by  a  golden  glory  in  July,  and  each 
summer  month  the  dull  facades  are  bright  with  the 
flowers  of  window  boxes,  in  even  the  business  sec- 
tions, where  they  often  rise  tier  on  tier  to  the  very 
roof.     Through  Germany  one  finds  the  same  glad 


146         ITmprovement  ot  crowns  aiiD  Cities 


decking  of  the  streets.  And  if  grim  London  thus 
adorns  herself,  one  may  be  sure  that  smaller  com- 
munities of  England  fairly  revel  in  luxuriant  win- 
dow gardens. 

Success  in  this  phase  of  city  adornment  must 
depend,  of  course,  on  the  people's  natural  love  for 
flowers  and  skill  in  gardening.  Yet  something  can 
be  done  artificially  to  stimulate  this.  Even  in 
English  villages  one  occasionally  finds  public  com- 
petitions conducted  with  that  purpose.  In  one 
town  these  have  been  endowed  by  a  wealthy  woman 
who  set  aside  a  little  sum  of  which  the  annual  in- 
come, amounting  to  jQ2  a  year,  was  divided  into 
three  prizes:  ^i,  \2s.  and  Zs.  The  conditions 
were  that  no  one  should  compete  who  owned  a 
greenhouse,  small  glass  houses  for  forcing  being 
much  commoner  in  England  than  in  towns  of 
the  United  States;  that  the  competition  should  in- 
clude only  one  window  in  a  house,  thus  putting  the 
occupant  of  the  smallest  house  on  an  equality  with 
more  prosperous  neighbors,  and  that  the  general 
scheme  of  arrangement  should  be  decided  upon  at 
least  a  month  before  the  day  set  for  awarding  the 
prizes,  and  not  altered  during  the  month.  This 
was  to  prevent  a  display  of  merely  temporary  ex- 
cellence. There  are  three  judges.  Intense  inter- 
est is  taken,  not  only  by  the  contestants  in  each 
other's  windows,  as  the  designs  develop,  but  by  all 
the  residents  of  the  town.  It  is  a  very  sweet  and 
pretty  competition,  not  quite  as  much  needed  one 
would  think  in  a  town  as  in  a  city;  but  in  English 
villages  the  best  of  the  garden  is  behind  a  wall. 


poBBlblUties  of  OarDcninfl  147 

In  Great  Britain,  also,  the  various  Kyrle  Societies 
make  inducement  to  window  gardening  a  regular 
section  of  their  activity ;  and  the  Cottage  Garden  So- 
cieties of  Ireland  emphasize  its  philanthropic  value. 
Liverpool   and   Glasgow,    as    representatives   of 
larger  and   therefore   needier   communities,    have 
undertaken  such  encouragement  to  window  garden- 
ing as  a  function  of  the  municipality.     In  the  latter 
city,   for  instance,   five  hundred  window  boxes  of 
flowers   were  prepared    by   the    superintendent   of 
parks,  and  the  householders  in  the  more  congested 
districts  were  invited  to  borrow  them,  that  color 
might  be  thus  brought  to  the  streets  of  the  "  dark 
sea-born  city."     A  deposit  of  a  shilling  was  re- 
quired when  the  loan  was  made,  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  money  would  be  refunded  on  the 
return  of  the  box  at  the  end  of  the  summer.      In 
Hamilton,    Canada,    the    Municipal    Improvement 
Association  has  offered  prizes  amounting  in  1900 
to  $250  for  the  most  artistically  decorated  lawn  on 
certain  main  streets  of  the  city,  and  also  prizes  for 
the  finest  window  gardens.     In  the  United  States 
competitions  of  like  purpose  have  been  conducted 
by  village  improvement  societies;  and  in  cities,  as 
a   half-philanthropic   and    half-educational    move- 
ment,   flower  seeds   are   sometimes   distributed   to 
children  of  the  tenements.     The  gain  here  is  in 
the  brightening  of  the  room  and  the  lessons  in  ten- 
derness, care,  awe,  and  reverence  —  even  to  God 
But  because  fresh  air  and  sunlight  are  to  be  found 
only  by  the  window  the  plants   also  brighten  the 
street.      At  the  time  of  the   Democratic  National 


148         Umprovement  of  tlowns  anD  Cities 


Convention  of  1900  in  Kansas  City,  a  local  news- 
paper offered  a  large  prize  for  "  the  prettiest  lawn 
of  twenty-five  feet  or  over."  In  a  rush  of  civic 
pride,  public-spirited  citizens  took  up  the  matter. 
Soon  twenty-six  prizes,  reaching  a  total  of  ^1200, 
were  offered  for  well-kept  lawns,  floral  displays, 
*'  the  neatest  vacant  lot,"  etc.,  that  the  city  might 
be  beautified.  There  was  a  good  lesson  in  that. 
In  Cleveland  the  Home  Gardening  Association 
does  a  remarkable  work  of  this  kind  among  the 
public  school  children.  The  president  has  de- 
scribed its  aim  as,  "  The  clearing  of  the  streets  and 
alleys  of  rubbish,  the  planting  of  shrubs  and  flowers 
in  otherwise  unsightly  places,  and  the  brightening 
and  beautifying  of  home  surroundings,  especially 
in  crowded  districts."  The  association  sells  penny 
packages  of  easily  grown  flowering  annuals  to  such 
pupils  as  wish  to  buy  them.  On  each  package 
there  are  printed  suggestions.  In  its  first  year  so 
many  thousand  packages  were  sold  that  the  society 
was  at  once  self-sustaining.  Flower  shows  are 
held  in  the  schools  at  the  end  of  the  summer. 

When  domestic  gardening  has  done  its  utmost, 
there  yet  remain  large  pieces  of  property  which 
neglect  may  make  an  eyesore,  or  which  some  care 
and  forethought  will  render  powerful  factors  in  the 
beautifying  of  the  town.  Of  these  are  the  grounds 
of  corporations  and  even  of  the  municipality  itself. 
In  Minneapolis,  as  a  type  of  a  successful  negative 
action,  the  threat  of  the  Russian  thistle  pest  in- 
duced the  Improvement  League  to  offer  prizes  to 
school  children  for  the  plant's  extermination.     An 


©ossibllttlce  of  ©arDenliifl  149 


illustration,  now  somewhat  famous,  of  a  result  that 
is  positive  has  been  offered  in  Dayton,  Ohio. 
Here  a  manufacturing  company  moved  into  a 
squalid  neighborhood  and  beautified  its  own 
grounds,  ornamenting  them  on  plans  furnished  by 
an  expert  landscape  gardener.  The  whole  neigh- 
borhood was  so  influenced  by  the  example,  and  by 
the  company's  offer  of  liberal  prizes  for  the  best 
front  and  back  yards,  window  boxes  and  porches, 
as  to  be  very  shortly  redeemed.  Indeed,  a  claim 
was  made  that  the  street  on  which  most  of  the  em- 
ployees lived,  considering  its  length  and  the  cost 
of  the  houses,  was  the  prettiest  in  the  world.  It 
cannot  be  expected  that  influence  of  this  sort  will 
be  always  so  striking;  but  there  will  be  at  least  the 
addition  of  the  beauty  of  the  company's  own 
grounds  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  street  and 
town. 

Of  a  strong  and  similar  interest,  there  is  that 
adornment  which  ought,  for  other  sufficient  reasons, 
to  be  given  to  school  yards;  that  beauty  which  the 
Northern  races  lavish  on  their  cemeteries  ;  and 
finally  the  decoration  now  becoming  a  characteristic 
of  the  railroad's  border,  where  it  is  within  the  limits 
of  a  town.  We  shall  speak  of  the  school  yards  more 
appropriately  in  the  chapter  on  playgrounds.  As 
to  the  railroads,  several  include  among  their  regu- 
lar workers  a  landscape  gardener  and  his  staff. 
The  matter  is  unquestionably  regarded  from  a 
strictly  business  basis.  A  line  of  track  bordered 
with  neatly  kept  turf,  and  embellished  around  the 
station    with    trees,    shrubbery,    grass    plots,    and 


ISO        improvement  ot  ITovvns  anO  Cttles 


flowers,  is  held  to  be  an  excellent  advertisement. 
Since  incidentally  it  does  much  for  the  beauty  and 
attractiveness  of  a  city,  this  economic  argument  is 
to  be  approved,  for  it  has  suggestion  for  other  cor- 
porations. As  to  the  city's  own  property,  the  little 
squares,  and  the  ornamental  circles  in  the  street, 
it  need  scarcely  be  said  that  they  should  not  be 
fenced.  If  any  artificial  barrier  between  lawn  and 
careless  traffic  is  required,  a  low  stone  coping  will 
suffice.  The  beauty  that  the  small  area  may  have 
will  be  more  than  twice  as  effective  if,  unenclosed, 
this  space  becomes,  as  in  Washington,  a  decorative 
element  of  the  street.  We  can  learn  that  lesson 
from  the  examples  in  London  of  an  opposite  policy. 

In  considering  in  necessary  detail  the  oppor- 
tunities for  embellishing  with  grass  and  flowers, 
doubtless  sight  has  been  lost,  to  some  extent,  of 
the  adornment  of  the  city  as  a  whole,  of  the  aggre- 
gate effect.  It  is  as  though  in  talking  of  the  beauty 
which  trees  lend  to  city  thoroughfares  we  had  had 
to  consider  them  separately  and  speak  only  of  the 
attractiveness  added  to  each  lot.  The  entrance  of 
the  country  into  the  city  we  have  likened  to  the  flow 
of  a  river.  Each  beauty  of  a  wavering  line  of  shore 
may  be  noted,  but  when  all  is  said  the  majesty  and 
grace  of  the  river  belong  mainly  to  the  perspective, 
to  the  long  view.  So  it  is  in  urban  gardening,  in 
parking,  with  vine,  tree,  window  box,  the  beauty 
of  the  single  example  is  outshone  by  the  beauty  of 
the  whole. 

In    his    essay   on    gardening.    Bacon    remarks: 


p0S5tbilltiC5  ot  GaiDcniiig  151 


"  Man  shall  ever  see  that  when  ages  grow  to  Civ- 
ility and  Elegancy,  man  comes  to  build  stately 
sooner  than  garden  finely;  as  if  gardening  were 
the  greater  perfection."  His  rule  has  held  good  in 
the  rise  of  cities.  There  was  attem[)t  to  make 
them  handsome  before  they  were  beautiful.  The 
soft  and  gentle  touch  of  nature  has  been  the  last 
to  be  added  to  them;  and  much  of  that  impulse 
may  be  traced  to  the  new  regard  for  hygiene  and 
to  the  modern  appeal  of  philanthropy.  Invention 
(in  rapid-transit)  has  then  made  feasible  the  satis- 
faction of  a  wish  to  beautify,  and  has  revealed  in 
urban  gardening  cesthetic  merits  not  fully  antici- 
pated. Philanthropy  and  hygiene  have  given  the 
impulse;  but  henceforth  the  strongest  champion 
for  rus  in  tirbe  should  be  a  popular  desire  to  bring 
beauty  into  cities. 


CHAPTER   IX 


PARKS    AND    DRIVES 


NON-POLITICAL  altruism  —  which  is  altru- 
istic effort  that  does  not  make  government 
its  object  —  may  be  said  to  divide  its  activity  into 
three  great  groups  of  effort.  These  are  the  move- 
ments, respectively,  to  make  the  world  belter, 
wiser,  and  fairer,  and  they  find  in  the  density  of 
city  population  an  attractive  and  urgent  field. 
Comprised  in  the  first  group  is  all  philanthropic 
effort,  in  the  second  all  educational,  in  the  third 
the  aesthetic  endeavor.  No  hard  and  fast  line 
separates  the  three.  Many  a  philanthropic  enter- 
prise has  educational  purpose  as  well,  while  in  art- 
education  the  second  movement  is  firmly  joined  to 
the  third.  Viewed  from  different  standpoints,  one 
altruistic  deed  gives  various  blessing. 

It  is  little  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  mighty  en- 
gine of  modern  pliilanthropy  should  be  found  to 
do  m.uch  for  city  beauty;  that,  viewed  from  the 
standpoint  of  civic  aesthetics,  it  should  prove  a 
powerful  ally  to  the  latter,  though  all  the  time  its 
friends  seek  primarily  other  ends.     Thus  an  impor- 

152 


parks  anO  Drives  153 


tant  division  of  the  work  for  beauty  in  cities  ii 
directly  traceable  to  its  impulse.  Parks,  play- 
grounds, and  institutional  construction  present, 
perhaps,  the  most  obviously  aesthetic  phase  among 
the  achievements  of  urban  philanthropy.  They 
are  large  accomplishments  and  have  a  striking 
effect  on  the  aspect  of  the  town. 

Since  the  rise  of  artistic  concern,  the  aesthetic 
advantages  of  parks  have  had  as  great  an  emphasis 
as  the  philanthropic.  Located,  for  the  sake  of 
economy,  almost  always  on  the  outskirts  of  a  city, 
the  parks  are  far,  in  the  main,  from  the  crowded 
districts.  In  Boston,  for  example,  which  has  now 
the  most  complete  system  of  any  municipality  in 
the  United  States,  the  reservations  of  Middlesex 
Fells,  of  the  Blue  Hills,  and  even  of  Franklin  Park, 
are  quite  out  of  town,  and,  like  the  large  park 
acreage  lately  reserved  in  the  Bronx  district  of 
Greater  New  York,  are  plainly  designed  to  add 
beauty  to  the  present  and  future  city  rather  than 
to  benefit  its  poor.  Significant  also  is  the  fact  that 
nearly  all  parks  of  large  towns  and  cities  are  put 
under  the  direction  of  skilled  engineers  and  land- 
scape architects.  At  an  added  expense  that  would 
secure  some  acres  in  the  tenement  district,  an 
effort  is  made  to  increase  the  beauty  of  the  parks. 

There  is  happily  no  need  to  present  here  the  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  parks  for  cities,  nor  is  it  necessary 
to  go  deeply  into  the  history  of  the  movement  in 
their  behalf.  This  has  arisen  lately  and  has  gained 
strength  rapidly,  until  the  assertion  is  made  to-day 


^54         Umprovcmcnt  of  tTovvns  an&  Cities 


that  parks  and  park  systems  are  the  most  important 
artistic  work  which  has  been  done  in  the  United 
States.  Before  we  pass,  however,  to  the  principles 
of  park  construction  and  maintenance  which  belong 
to  civic  aesthetics,  it  may  be  well  to  pause  for  an 
observation  in  regard  to  the  connection  of  the 
parks  with  this  general  movement.  We  have 
spoken  of  the  demand  for  them  as  if  it  were  an 
effect  only  of  the  rise  of  regard  for  city  beauty. 
To  some  extent  it  is  also  a  cause. 

"In  the  growth  of  taste,"  says  a  writer,  "no 
educator  of  the  people  has  been  more  valuable  than 
the  parks.  Their  attractiveness  is  undoubtedly  one 
of  the  causes  of  that  everywhere  increasing  desire 
for  more  perfection  in  home  surroundings."  If 
the  adoption  of  parks  be  due,  then,  to  a  somewhat 
vague  demand,  not  untinged  with  socialism,  for 
civic  beauty,  they  react  in  giving  definiteness  to 
the  demand  and  in  enforcing  the  lesson  of  personal 
opportunity.  A  beautiful  park  may  awaken  a  de- 
sire for  a  lovelier  home-garden,  and  the  wish  for  a 
beautiful  home  grows  into  the  wish  for  a  beautiful 
street.  The  efforts  to  bring  vegetation  into  the 
city  owe  something,  therefore,  to  the  parks.  And 
if  these  efforts  have  grown  rapidly,  though  only 
come  to  consciousness  in  late  years,  let  it  be  real- 
ized that  when,  in  1853,  the  purchase  was  author- 
ized of  lands  for  Central  Park,  New  York,  the 
acquisition  and  development  were  most  bitterly 
opposed;  that  in  1869  there  were  but  two  well- 
advanced  rural  Darks  in  the  whole  United  States; 
that  in  1S56  tnere  were  only  twent}.     I.i  .8^8  a 


1 


parfte  anO  Drtpcs  155 


student  of  park  development  who  had  been  in  com- 
munication with  the  twenty-five  principal  American 
cities  wrote  to  the  author  that,  except  in  the  larger, 
the  rise  of  a  "  general  "  interest  m  jjark  develop- 
ment had  manifested  itself  "  only  within  a  decade," 
and  that  in  ten  years  the  park  acreage  in  each  of 
these  cities  had  been  "  more  than  doubled." 

Parks  for  cities  are  a  new  demand,  though  one 
now  so  universally  made  that  it  seems  as  if  parks 
had  always  had  popular  approval.  Nor  is  it  fair 
to  sneer  at  the  demand  for  them  as  if  it  were  a 
convenient  means  of  robbing  the  rich,  on  the 
ground  that  the  "  public-spirited  voters  of  ap- 
propriations are  not  those  who  pay  the  taxes." 
The  large  parks  have  become  the  delight  of  the 
well-to-do  quite  as  much  as  of  the  poor;  and  of 
the  park  acreage  in  American  cities  it  is  probably 
not  too  much  to  say  that  at  least  half  has  been  land 
acquired  by  gift.  For  the  rest,  the  initial  demand 
is  apt  to  come  from  the  more  enlightened,  travelled, 
and  prosperous  members  of  the  community.  Like 
the  whole  movement  for  civic  aesthetics  the  wish 
for  large  parks  is  a  product  of  mature  civiliza- 
tion. 

If  only  the  problem  of  bringing  beauty  to  the 
city  arose  more  often  at  the  beginnings  of  a  city, 
the  question  of  park  location  would  be  simplified. 
The  great  obstacle  of  expense  would  lose  almost 
all  its  effectiveness  when  land  is  cheap;  and  as  for 
the  park  results,  a  consideration  of  the  system  in 
the  first  study  of  the  ground  plan  would  ensure  the 
choosing  of  good  sites.      These   would  probably 


156        "ffinprovcment  of  Clowns  an5  Cttics 


include,  as  was  observed  in  the  first  chapter,  the 
dominating  hill  and  a  portion  of  the  water-front. 
Aside  from  the  general  appropriateness  of  such 
location,  long  views  are  to  be  desired  within  park 
boundaries,  from  both  the  hygienic  and  jesthetic 
standpoint,  and  these  views  may  be  thus  secured, 
or  at  least  extended,  without  additional  expense. 

When  the  city  is  already  built  and  the  parks  are 
only  to  be  added,  the  relative  value  of  sites,  the 
character  of  the  surroundings,  and  the  need  of 
ready  accessibility  complicate  the  ideal  problem. 
If  the  city  be  also  very  populous,  the  high  cost  of 
ground  will  throw  the  park  into  the  environs,  and 
the  difificulty  will  be  presented  of  choosing  a  site 
that  shall  favor  all  sections  impartially.  It  is  the 
attempt  to  solve  the  problem  when  thus  compli- 
cated that  has  given  rise  in  American  cities  to  the 
chain  system  of  parks,  by  which  large  reservations 
are  made  at  various  points  of  the  circumference 
equi-distant  from  the  centre,  and  designed  to  be 
connected  with  it  and  with  one  another  by  park 
roads  and  boulevards.  This  system,  of  which 
Chicago  and  Boston  are  striking  exemplars,  has 
been  now  adopted  in  many  of  the  smaller  cities. 

In  Chicago  the  whole  system  is  easily  included 
in  the  far-reaching  municipal  limits.  It  comprises 
seven  large  parks,  three  on  the  lake-front,  one  to 
the  south,  and  three  to  the  west,  and  all  connected 
by  broad  parkways  or  boulevards  of  which  almost 
the  last  links  have  been  constructed.  The  parks 
are  all  beautiful,  and  the  encircling  drive — now  a 
boulevard  lined  with  magnificent  detached  dwel)  • 


paths  and  Drives  157 


ings,  and  now  a  parkway  more  than  four  hundred 
feet  broad — will  be,  when  complete,  possibly  the 
finest  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  In  Boston,  a  like 
result  is  secured  by  two  commissions,  the  Metro- 
politan and  the  City.  The  former,  which  has  main 
charge  of  the  chain  system,  was  created  by  legisla- 
tion as  lately  as  1893.  It  was  designed  to  bring 
Boston  and  all  the  surrounding  cities  and  towns  of 
the  large  metropolitan  area  into  co-operation  in  the 
acquirement  of  one  harmonious  park  system.  Act- 
ing with  constant  foresight  and  public  spirit,  the 
commission  has  secured  at  an  initial  outlay  of 
$10,000^000  substantially  the  land  proposed  in  the 
general  plan  outlined  in  1893,  and  by  these  pur- 
chases and  by  gifts  it  "  controls  more  numerous 
large  pleasure-grounds  than  are  held  by  any  public 
authority  on  the  continent  except  the  National  and 
Canadian  governments."  From  its  elaborate  re- 
port of  1900,  it  is  not  a  little  suggestive,  as  well  as 
interesting,  to  learn  that  its  seashore  reservations 
aggregate  about  eight  miles  of  ocean  front;  that  the 
forest  reservations,  selected  for  their  intrinsic  worth, 
amount  to  seven  thousand  four  hundred  acres  and 
are  equitably  distributed  over  the  system;  that, 
with  the  holdings  of  local  boards,  public  control 
has  been  secured  of  the  larger  portion  of  all  the 
river-banks  within  the  district,  the  omissions  being 
lands  likely  to  be  required  for  wharves  or  other 
purposes  essential  to  the  business  convenience  of 
the  community;  and  finally  that  the  parkways  and 
boulevards  are  "  a  natural  supplement  to  the  res- 
ervations," determined  upon  after  careful  study, 


158        Umprorcmcnt  of  tlowns  auD  Cittcs 


and  "  with  the  threefold  purpose  to  make  the 
metropolitan  reservations  accessible,  to  unite  these 
reservations  and  the  more  notable  local  parks  into 
one  system,  and  to  provide  pleasant  driving  com- 
munication between  them  and  the  various  cities 
and  towns  of  the  district." 

The  close  connection  of  such  systems  with  urban 
beauty  will  at  once  be  clear.  Because  of  this  inti- 
mate connection,  the  system  does  more  for  a  city's 
appearance  than  could  any  single  park  however 
beautiful.  Whatever  the  subtle  influence  of  park 
beauty  on  the  aesthetic  aspirations  of  citizens,  the 
casual  sight-seer  in  Philadelphia  or  Brooklyn  would 
find  the  city  itself  little  altered  for  its  famous  park. 
He  would  think  separately  of  park  and  town,  per- 
ceiving no  necessary  coherence.  Here  the  town, 
there  the  park;  their  sum  would  appear  algebraic, 
not  arithmetical.  The  same  may  be  said  of  New 
York  and  Central  Park,  though  something  very  like 
park  system  is  beginning  to  appear  in  the  upper 
end  of  the  city,  where,  instead  of  superimposing  an 
oasis  of  beauty,  it  is  changing  the  aspect  of  much 
of  the  region.  The  improvement  illustrates  the 
value  of  the  chain-park  system  with  its  linking 
park  streets,  from  the  view-point  of  city  beauty. 
The  system  has,  moreover,  this  further  advantage 
■ —  it  broadens  throughout  the  community  the  feel- 
ing of  near  and  personal  interest  in  the  parks, 
widening  thus  their  influence  ;  and  extends  the 
area  through  which  gifts  of  land  for  park  purposes 
may  be  appropriately  made.  The  value  to  a  com- 
munity of  these  park  possibilities  is  illustrated  by 


parfte  anO  Drives  159 


the  large  gifts  which  they  have  recently  rendered 
available  in  Hartford  and  Cleveland. 

As  charity  covers  a  multitude  of  sins,  philan- 
thropy covers  a  multitude  of  motives.  In  nothing 
is  this  more  clearly  true  than  in  gifts  for  parks; 
and  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  public  spirit  inter- 
ested in  the  aesthetic  development  of  a  city  can 
hardly  find  a  more  direct  and  obvious  means  of 
benefaction  than  in  such  gifts.  The  importance  to 
St.  Louis  of  Tower  Grove  Park  and  Shaw's  Garden, 
the  bestowal  of  an  individual,  well  shows  this;  and 
the  donor's  enrichment  of  the  former  with  two  fine 
bronze  statues,  and  his  liberal  endowment  of  a 
practical  school  of  botany  in  the  latter,  are  evi- 
dence— aside  from  his  unique  bequest  in  provision 
of  two  banquets  to  be  held  each  year  by  those  in- 
terested in  this  expression  of  the  city's  higher  life — 
of  the  lengths  to  which  the  public  spirit  of  a  citizen 
may  go,  if  once  it  be  actively  aroused  in  such  direc- 
tion. But  the  assertion  that  jjrobably  half  of  the 
city  park  investment  of  the  United  States  has  come 
in  gifts  from  private  persons  is  not  wholly  depen- 
dent upon  benefactions  so  striking.  The  experi- 
ence of  Springfield,  Mass.,  is  pertinent,  as  typical 
of  a  frequent  but  little  reported  kind.  The  prin- 
cipal park  comprises  463^  acres,  made  up  of  24 
parcels  of  land.  Of  this  19  parcels,  containing  339^ 
acres,  were  the  gifts  of  individuals.  The  park  also 
contains  considerable  zoological  and  ornithological 
collections,  for  which  not  one  dollar  of  public 
money  has  been  expended  for  specimens.  The 
report   of   the   park   commissioners   of    Scranton, 


i6o        llniprorement  of  ^ovvns  anD  Cities 


Penn.,  in  1898,  included  in  its  list  of  gifts  a  com- 
modious kitchen  for  the  use  of  picnickers,  a  lake, 
a  menagerie,  and  a  number  of  summer  shelter  tents; 
and  the  little  city  of  York  (Penn.),  when  setting 
about  a  rehabilitation  of  the  old  public  common  in 
the  same  year,  found  associations  and  individuals 
ready  to  present  almost  everything.  A  musical 
society  gave  the  band  pavilion,  mechanics  an  iron 
flagstaff  and  flag.  Each  school  in  the  city,  private 
or  public,  planted  a  tree.  Citizens  gave  benches 
and  seats,  and  collectively  a  fountain,  for  w^hich 
the  water  company  furnished  tree  water. 

When  so  great  an  interest  is  shown  by  individuals, 
some  associated  effort  is  to  be  expected.  Phases 
of  local  park  management  or  development  are  con- 
stantly under  discussion  by  art  and  civic  clubs; 
public  spirit  usually  insists  that  the  maintenance  of 
the  parks  shall  be  free  from  political  interference; 
and  even  architectural  societies  find  in  the  parks  a 
subject  for  professional  consideration.  In  Chicago, 
for  instance,  the  Architectural  Club  has  formally 
discussed  "  plans  for  beautifying  parks  and  boule- 
vards," and  the  subject  for  the  designs  in  compe- 
tition for  a  travelling  scholarship  in  architecture 
from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1900  was 
the  improvement  of  an  entrance  to  Fairmount  Park. 

Philadelphia  offers,  moreover,  a  very  interesting 
example,  on  a  large  scale,  of  voluntary  associated 
effort  in  behalf  of  parks.  This  is  the  Fairmount 
Park  Art  Association,  founded  in  187 1,  incorporated 
in  the  following  year,  and  with  a  paying  member- 
ship which  years  ago  passed  the  thousand  mark. 


J»arks  and  ©rives  i6i 


It  is  a  society  composed  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren who  contribute,  by  associate,  annual,  or  life 
dues,  to  a  fund  from  which  to  purchase  works  of 
art  for  the  adornment  of  Fairmount  Park.  The 
claim  is  made  that  since  its  organization  almost 
every  Philadelphian  of  note  has  belonged  to  this 
association.  A  certain  part  of  the  dues  is  set 
aside  for  the  permanent  fund,  which  is  to  be  al- 
lowed to  accumulate  until  it  amounts  to  $100,000, 
now  nearly  reached,  when  the  interest  will  be  used.* 
The  unreserved  balance  is  expended  as  opportunity 
offers.  It  would  be  interesting,  and  valuably  sug- 
gestive, to  follow  in  some  detail  the  work  of  the 
society.  Since,  however,  its  annual  reports  can  be 
readily  obtained,  a  brief  indication  of  its  activity 
must  here  sufifice.  The  twenty-fifth  report  (that 
of  1897)  showed  twenty-nine  works  of  art  already 
contributed  to  the  park,  and  accepted,  while  several 
others  were  under  commission.  With  three  excep- 
tions the  work  donated  was  sculpture,  in  bronze 
or  stone,  the  exceptions  being  paintings  which  had 
been  placed  in  Memorial  Hall,  in  the  park.  Eight 
fountains  were  included  in  the  list  of  sculpture,  and 
of  the  twenty-nine  works  of  art  contributed  to  the 
park  ten  had  been  presented  first  to  the  association. 
This  indicates  its  value  in  another  role,  as  encour- 
aging private  gifts  by  providing  an  appreciative  re« 
cipient.  The  association  has  an  important  function 
also  in  carrying  out  the  terms  of  bequests  with  an 
assurance  of  fidelity  to  art  ideals.  When  a  citizen 
of  Philadelphia  recently  bequeathed  $500,000  for 
the  construction  of  a  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Me- 
II  ■  Vd.  note,  pg.  300. 


i62         ifmprovemcnt  of  tlowns  an5  Cities 


morial  Gateway  to  the  park,  he  did  so  with  the 
stipulation  that  it  be  erected  under  the  auspices  of 
this  society.  Finally,  other  scope  for  its  activity 
has  been  found  in  the  arrangement  of  park  fetes, 
as  at  the  unveiling  of  its  memorial  to  General  Gar- 
field in  1896. 

A  society  somewhat  akin  in  aim  to  the  Fairmount 
Park  Art  Association  appears  in  the  Boston  Com- 
mon Society,  recently  organized  to  add  attractive- 
ness to  Boston  Common,  as  champion  of  its  cause 
offensively  and  defensively.  The  possibilities  that 
lie  before  such  an  association  are  well  indicated  by 
the  success  of  the  Public  Green  Association  which 
was  active  in  New  Haven  a  hundred  years  ago. 
This  was  probably  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States,  for  the  spirit  of  civic  improvement  was  not 
then  abroad.  It  raised  money,  or  money's  equiva- 
lent— one  man  subscribing  five  gallons  of  rum — for 
"  grading  the  green  and  planting  elms,"  and  to- 
day the  Elm  City  with  its  "  green  "  has  a  unique 
reputation  among  American  municipalities.  There 
has  been  formed  recently,  also,  a  national  society 
known  as  the  American  Park  and  Outdoor  Art 
Association.  Its  membership  is  composed  of  ex- 
perts, it  holds  annual  conventions  at  which  valu- 
able papers  are  read,  and  defines  its  purpose  as 
"to  promote  the  conservation  of  natural  scenery, 
the  acquirement  and  improvement  of  land  for  pub- 
lic parks  and  reservations,  and  the  advancement  of 
all  outdoor  art  having  to  do  with  the  designing  and 
fitting  of  grounds  for  public  and  private  use  and 
enjoyment." ' 

'  Vd.  note,  pg.  300. 


liarhs  anC>  H)rtx»cs  163 


In  fact,  as  one  surveys  the  whole  range  of  park 
activity,  it  becomes  clear  that  as  far  as  the  interest 
of  the  study  goes  American  cities  are  in  advance  of 
those  of  Europe.  For  this  there  are  several  reasons. 
The  youth  of  the  movement  here,  its  democratic 
impulse,  the  rapidity  of  the  progress,  the  daring 
and  novelty  of  the  schemes  proposed  in  the  difficult 
problems  offered  by  parkless  cities,  conspire  to 
give  to  our  achievements  a  dramatic  interest.  In 
old-world  cities  almost  as  much  has  been  done;  but 
through  the  greater  age  of  the  movement  and  the 
acquirement  of  large  and  convenient  parks  by  the 
dedication  of  crown  property  to  public  use,  the  in- 
terest of  the  accomplishments  is  mainly  historical. 
The  chain  system  as  understood  in  America  is 
rarely  found  in  them,  though  a  fair  substitute  is  ob- 
tained by  the  conversion  of  old  fortifications  into  a 
girdle  of  park.  This  was  done,  for  instance,  with 
Nuremburg's  encircling  moat. 

Conditions  which  are  most  like  those  in  America 
appear  in  England.  British  cities  have  had  large 
private  gifts  for  park  purposes,  and  while  the  best- 
known  parks  of  London,  as  Hyde,  Regent's,  and 
St.  James's,  are  property  of  the  crown,  still  a  deal 
of  interesting  effort  appears  there  in  voluntary  so- 
cieties. The  great  needs  of  London  and  the  city's 
peculiar  position  in  tlie  matter  of  the  origin  of  its 
parks  make  most  of  it  novel.  Not  a  little  should 
be  suggestive. 

The  villages  and  towns  that  form  the  outskirts 
of  the  metropolis  have  each  a  common,  and  as 
Greater  London  gathers  them  to  itself  it  designs  to 


i64         lymprovement  of  ^owns  aiiD  Cities 


use  these  local  commons  as  suburban  parks.  But 
they  are  far  from  the  centre,  often  in  thoughtless 
and  sparsely  settled  neighborhoods,  and  to  see  that 
the  opportunity  is  improved  there  has  arisen  the 
Commons  and  Footpaths  Preservation  Society.  It 
offers  jealous  watchfulness  and  provides  specialists 
in  the  knowledge  of  those  intricacies  of  English  law 
through  which  the  commons  can  so  easily  be  lost 
to  the  metropolis.  The  society  was  founded  in 
1865,  and  though  finding  its  greatest  need  in  Lon- 
don it  is  national  in  scope.  Since  its  establishment 
no  common  within  the  Metropolitan  Police  area 
has  been  enclosed;  large  areas  that  were  previously 
appropriated  have  been  restored  to  the  public,  and 
many  of  the  most  important  open  spaces  have  been 
put  under  suitable  guardianship.  To  all  of  this 
the  society  has  contributed  by  arousing  and  in- 
structing public  opinion,  by  interesting  powerful 
bodies,  by  directing  local  action,  and  by  exerting 
a  needed  influence  in  Parliament.  Closely  in 
line  with  this  society,  indeed  owing  its  origin  to  it, 
is  the  Thames  Preservation  League.  Organized  in 
the  summer  of  1899,  its  membership  is  made  up  of 
representatives  from  the  Thames-bank  branches  of 
the  Commons  society  and  from  various  London  as- 
sociations of  kindred  purpose.  The  object  is  the 
preservation  of  the  Thames  and  its  tributaries  for 
public  enjoyment,  and  then  the  maintenance  of 
"  all  that  tends  to  the  beauty  and  interest  of  the 
river."  The  latter  purpose  is  to  involve  "  the 
consideration,  with  a  view  to  the  prevention  of 
the  disfigurement  of  the  river,  of  all  proposals  for 


fftarhs  anO  JE>rive6  165 


bridges  and  other  works  " — a  department  of  effort 
which  shows  that  the  league  touches  municipal  art 
in  the  broadest  way.  There  are  other  organizations 
in  behalf  of  playgrounds,  but  London  parks,  owing 
to  the  nature  of  their  foundation,  make  little 
further  demand  on  private  effort. 

Of  the  treatment  to  be  given  to  park  lands,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  speak  here  with  detail.  The 
modern  tendency  is  to  reserve  formalism  for  small 
areas  and  those  having  some  architectural  environ- 
ment, allowing  the  natural  features  of  the  large 
park  to  be  mainly  determinate  of  the  style  adopted. 
This  is  a  good  rule  from  the  jesthetic  side;  but 
other  considerations  demand  respect  in  the  choice 
of  treatment.  A  belief  in  the  nerve-soothing  power 
of  pastoral  scenes,  the  constant  necessity  of  devot- 
ing much  space  to  walks  and  roadways,  the  ten- 
dency to  make  the  park  a  site  for  public  sculpture, 
and  to  locate  zoological  and  botanical  gardens 
within  its  limits,  are  factors  to  be  surely  reckoned 
with,  though  they  may  modify  some  aesthetic  claims. 
Happily,  American  cities  do  not  lack  illustrations 
of  fine  landscape  treatment  of  park  areas;  and  it 
is  possible  for  botanical  gardens  to  add  much  in 
interest  without  marring  beauty. 

In  speaking  of  the  chain  system  of  parks,  it  has 
been  impossible  to  avoid  some  reference  to  the 
handsome  drives  and  parkways  that  are  its  con- 
necting links.  The  practical  dreamers  of  city 
beauty,  however,  have  imagined  a  far  more  glorious 
development  than  a  mere  means  to  an  end.     They 


i66         irmprovement  of  Clowns  anO  Cities 


have  dreamed  of  park  roads  that  should  be  an  end 
in  themselves  and  so  a  striking  feature  in  the 
structural  skeleton  of  the  city  beautiful.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  some  of  these  dreams  have  come 
to  realization.  They  point  the  way  with  encour- 
aging confidence. 

Roughly  speaking,  the  roads  that  are  glorified 
drives  and  nothing  more — neither  boulevards  to  be 
built  upon  nor  primarily  means  of  communication 
between  two  points  —  divide  themselves  into  two 
classes:  fast-roads  and  beauty-roads.  Both  cater 
to  wealth,  although  of  late  the  ubiquitous  bicycle, 
and  the  provision  for  it,  has  given  a  touch  of 
democracy  to  the  latter.  The  fast-roads,  or  speed- 
ways, are  still  rare  as  a  separate  construction  from 
the  parks,  for  they  must  have  a  combination  of 
conditions  to  justify  them.  The  Harlem  Speed- 
way, New  York,  which  was  very  elaborate  in 
original  plan  and  is  doubtless  the  best  known  of 
such  American  drives,  was  begun  in  1894,  and 
"  finished  "  in  1898.  It  skirts  the  river,  with  a 
handsome  protecting  coping.  Boston  has  con- 
structed one  somewhat  similar  on  a  part  of  the 
Charles  bank,  and  the  two  illustrate  a  detail  of 
river-front  treatment  for  handsome  cities.  It  is 
claimed  of  the  Harlem  Speedway  that  it  is  the  best 
in  the  world  as  an  urban  provision.  There  are  no 
cross  streets  from  end  to  end  of  the  three  miles, 
and  the  broad  roadbed  is  kept  in  perfect  condition. 
Brooklyn,  also,  has  opened  a  speedway,  and  one  is 
contemplated  by  Philadelphia. 

Of  beauty-drives,  some  conspicuous  examples  are 


paries  anD  Brtvcs  167 


the  Sheridan,  at  Chicago;  the  Riverside,  in  New 
York;  the  Ocean  Parkway,  at  Brooklyn;  and  the 
Farnam  and  English  drives,  at  New  Haven,  There 
are  various  others — Brooklyn  itself  having  also  the 
Shore  and  the  Eastern  parkways,  which  are  rich  in 
promise;  but  those  first  mentioned  are  popularly 
held  to  be  the  American  standards  of  their  kind. 
The  Sheridan  Drive  it  is  proposed  to  extend,  with 
the  aid  of  the  intervening  towns,  all  the  way  from 
Chicago  to  Milwaukee  —  a  distance  of  some  eighty 
miles,  following  the  lake  shore.  Reaching  far  be- 
yond the  confines  of  the  cities,  it  yet  forms  one  of 
their  most  important  aesthetic  assets.  The  River- 
side Drive  on  the  high  bank  of  the  North  River 
affords  rare  views,  and  is  all  within  New  York. 
The  Ocean  Parkway,  passing  through  no  especially 
romantic  scenery,  gains  distinction  by  its  own 
dignity  and  its  popularity.  The  New  Haven 
drives,  winding  up  the  great  rock,  represent  possi- 
bilities in  a  different  sort  of  topography.  In  the 
other  cases  the  beauty-drive  is  not  only  a  drive.  It 
includes  bridle  paths,  roads  for  bicycles,  and  ways 
for  pedestrians.  Strictly  urban  in  its  character,  it 
leads  the  city  to  the  country's  edge,  as  marble  steps 
and  balustraded  terraces  define  the  site  of  a  palace. 

The  fast-drives,  the  beauty-drives,  and  the  parks' 
connecting  links  do  not  comprise  all  the  park- 
developed  roadways.  When  pleasure  areas  are  on 
the  circumference  of  the  town,  they  demand  ade- 
quate connection  with  its  centre.  This  must 
normally  be  by  an  existing  street.     The  qualities 


168         fmprovcmcnt  of  Clowns  anJ>  Citfee 


to  be  desired  in  it  are  directness,  breadth,  and 
freedom  from  heavy  commercial  traffic.  If  it  has 
trees,  if  it  is  substantially  built  up,  and  if  the  erec- 
tions upon  it  are  detached  in  private  grounds,  or  if 
there  is  an  ornamental  strip  of  verdure  through 
the  middle,  it  is  not  ill  fitted  for  a  park  ap- 
proach. As  many  as  possible  of  these  conditions 
having  been  secured  on  a  street,  it  should  then  be 
put  in  the  hands  of  the  Park  Commissioners  for  the 
regulation  of  traffic  and  to  be  developed  as  care- 
fully as  if  it  were  park  land.  This  plan,  though 
recognized,  has  not  been  worked  up  in  American 
cities  as  it  ought  to  be.  It  would  add  dignity  to 
the  park,  would  bring  the  park  to  the  people,  and 
would  beautify  the  city.  There  would  be  few 
places  more  suitable  for  ornamentation  with 
sculpture  than  such  a  highway. 

In  Boston,  Commonwealth  Avenue,  which  is  a 
direct  approach,  has  been  put  in  charge  of  the  Park 
Commissioners;  but  they  do  little  more  than  look 
out  for  the  trees.  In  Philadelphia  there  has  been 
discussion  of  such  a  boulevard,  on  a  very  elaborate 
scale.  The  proposal  there  was  for  a  concourse  275 
feet  wide.  It  was  to  be  entered  from  Broad  Street 
by  a  triumphal  arch,  supported  on  each  side  by 
columns,  and  the  central  roadway  was  to  run  be- 
tween broad  lawns  and  flower  beds,  with  more  or 
less  sculpture  down  its  centre.  Provision  was  in- 
cluded for  bicyclists  and  pedestrians.*  If  it  were 
possible  for  an  American  municipality  to  under- 
take such  a  public  work  on  business  principles,  as 
a  European  city  would  do,  reimbursing  itself  by 

'   Vd.  note,  pg.  300. 


parfte  anO  Drtves  169 


the  sale  of  abutting  property  at  the  advanced  value 
which  the  improvement  would  create,  the  large 
outlay  would  cause  less  hesitation. 

In  New  York  the  agitation  for  an  ordinance 
restricting  heavy  traffic  on  Fifth  Avenue,  as  the 
leading  ai)proach  to  Central  Park,  has  called  at- 
tention to  the  want  of  such  a  street.  The  proposal 
for  restriction  has  had  much  opposition,  especially 
in  a  republican  prejudice  against  a  seeming  permis- 
sion of  class  distinction,  and  this  has  nullified  ap- 
peals to  the  not  entirely  relevant  examples  of  civic 
splendor  in  thoroughfares  like  the  Champs-Elysees 
in  Paris  and  the  Unter  der  Linden  in  Berlin. 
Some  trouble  in  a  Western  city,  however,  with  the 
use  of  costly  pleasure-drives  by  funeral  processions, 
and  a  suggestion  that  the  driving  pageant  would 
give  more  pleasure  to  on-lookers  from  the  sidewalk 
than  to  those  who  drive,  should  suggest  that  the 
restriction  is  not  wholly  born  of  class  distinction. 
The  Fifth  Avenue  agitation  has  been  earnest  and 


interestmg. 


It  may  be  said,  in  closing,  that  in  Paris  the  avenues 
and  boulevards,  for  purposes  of  administration,  are 
considered  as  belonging  to  the  park  system;  and 
that  the  determination  to  make  a  great  pleasure 
ground  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  was  accompanied 
by  a  resolve  to  provide  fitting  approaches  to  it  in 
the  new  boulevard  system.  Incidentally,  it  may 
be  added  that  the  city  promptly  recovered  most  of 
the  money  spent  in  the  park's  improvement  by  an 
advantageous  sale  of  adjacent  building  sites.  Yet 
in  the  creation  and  maintenance  of  large  parks  and 


I70         flmprorement  ot  ^owns  an&  Cities 


fine  pleasure-drives  American  cities  have,  on  the 
whole,  little  to  learn  abroad. 

As  one  reviews  the  achievements  in  this  direction, 
the  thought  obtrudes  itself  that  from  the  stand- 
point of  city  beauty  the  danger  to  be  most  feared 
is  that  which  would  arise  from  satisfaction  with 
the  beauty  of  parks  and  drives  themselves,  without 
regard  for  their  probable  failure  to  blend  with  their 
surroundings — without  fear  for  that  contrast  which 
would  be  revealed  in  the  sharp  line  between  a  mean 
city  and  a  lovely  park.  Beauty  is  not  something 
that  can  be  superimposed  successfully  from  the 
outside — that  can  be  added  on.  The  park  which 
has  been  bestowed  upon  the  city  as  an  after-thought 
may  be  a  rich  possession,  but  it  remains  a  separate 
entity  until  it  becomes  an  essential  feature  of  the 
city's  plan,  grows  into  a  seemingly  natural  part  of 
its  organism.  You  can't  put  a  beautiful  book  be- 
side one  of  poor  workmanship  and  thereby  improve 
the  first,  or  even  be  able  to  speak  of  the  two  volumes 
as  one  fine  work.  Conjunction  must  become 
combination  before  a  park  or  a  drive  changes  a 
city. 

It  may  even  be  that  a  park,  while  creating  some 
aesthetic  sentiment,  will  so  absorb  to  itself  the  com- 
munity's aesthetic  desires  and  hopes  as  to  rob  the 
city  of  specific  improvements  it  would  otherwise 
have  had.  These  dangers,  largely  arising  because 
parks  were  not  planned  at  the  beginning,  are  very 
real;  and  while  time  will  do  something  to  lessen 
the  peril,  as  the  city  grows  around  the  park,  yet 


Parfts  anO  drives  171 


there  is  nothing  to  be  more  firmly  urged  than  this 
—  that  the  workers  for  city  beauty  should  not  rest 
content  with  the  acquisition  of  a  lovely  park  or  a 
park  system  and  beauty-drives  until  these  are  made 
an  inseparable  portion  of  the  city's  life. 

And  there  is  another  danger  in  this  possible 
absorption  by  the  park  of  all  the  community's 
aesthetic  desires  and  hopes.  It  is  that  the  park 
will  be  overburdened  with  "ornamentation  " — will 
be  made  formal  and  citified  to  the  destruction  of 
its  possible  restfulness  and  natural  charm.  It  is 
because  they  have  succumbed  to  this  danger  that 
so  many  parks  have  borne  the  brunt,  and  still  bear 
the  marks,  of  their  community's  worst  epoch  of 
artistic  taste.  To  defend  the  park,  therefore,  from 
the  mistaken  zeal  of  town  improvers  is  one  of  the 
most  needful  efforts. 


CHAPTER   X 

"squares"  and  playgrounds 

FROM  parks  and  drives  to  small  playground 
areas  and  city  "  squares  "  there  is  as  distinct 
a  change  as  between  the  other  products  of  urban 
aesthetic  effort.  The  difference  appears  in  pur- 
pose, treatment,  and  effect.  Indeed,  between  the 
"  squares  "  and  playgrounds  themselves  there  is 
little  similarity  save  in  extent,  and  the  first  could 
hardly  have  mention  as  a  phase  of  "  philanthropic  " 
effort,  for  all  their  grateful  effect  upon  the  eye' of 
the  citybound,  were  they  not  to  be  classed  as  be- 
longing to  the  park  system.  The  small  street- 
square  is  mainly  aesthetic  in  its  purpose,  while  in 
the  playground  we  pass  to  effort  of  which  the 
philanthropic  design  is  clearly  paramount. 


The  small  squares,  the  circles,  and  triangles 
formed  at  the  junction  of  city  streets,  and  orna- 
mented with  vegetation,  are  destined  to  carry  out 
the  purpose  of  the  parks  and  drives  in  adding  to 
the  amenities  of  city  life.  Properly  considered, 
therefore,   as  belonging  to  the  park  system,   they 

172 


Squared"  aiio  HMaggrounDs  173 


are  usually  put  in  charge  of  its  governing  board. 
Indeed,  in  the  ideal  development  of  the  beautiful 
city,  all  parks,  "squares,"  and  drives  would  have 
appeared  on  the  original  map,  harmonizing  with 
each  other,  and  carrying  with  logical  sequence  the 
park  idea  into  every  portion  of  the  city.  And  be- 
cause these  small  ornamental  areas  are  so  identified 
with  the  street  plan,  they  are,  in  fact,  very  fre- 
quently conceived  at  the  start.  The  pleasant  result 
is  that  sense  of  intimate  and  inseparable  connection 
with  the  city's  life  which  more  ambitious  parks  too 
often  lack. 

Once  located,  the  landscape  treatment  of  the 
small  space  ought  to  present  slight  difficulty.  And 
yet  ideas  on  the  subject  are  strangely  ill  defined. 
The  primary  conception,  that  in  their  narrower 
sphere  they  are  to  carry  out  the  purpose  of  the 
park,  has  led  to  a  hasty  adoption  in  many  cases  of 
the  "  natural  "  treatment.  Local  attributes  then 
cause  modifications,  and  over  and  over  the  result 
is  an  incongruous  mixture  which  defeats  its  end  of 
art  and  beauty  by  being  with  completeness  neither 
natural  nor  formal. 

As  the  areas  vary  widely  in  extent  and  surround- 
ings, it  is  difficult  to  lay  down  a  rule  that  applies  to 
all.  But  generally  the  small  city  "  square  " — using 
this  specific  term  in  its  popular  generic  sense  — 
offers  an  opportunity  for  formalism  in  its  treating. 
For  consider:  i.  The  limited  extent  makes  con- 
cealment of  artificial  surroundings  well  nigh  impos- 
sible. Walls  of  brick  and  stone  peer  over  shrubs 
that   are   designed   to   hide   the  stream   of  traffic. 


T 


174         Umprovcment  of  Cowns  anD  Cities 


2.  The  outline  of  the  plot  is  almost  invariably 
geometric,  lending  itself  most  favorably  to  formal 
treatment.  3.  To  some  extent  at  least  the  paths 
are  highways;  they  tempt  as  short-cuts,  and  if  they 
make  winding  detours  their  beauty  loses  effect  by  ex- 
asperating. 4.  Very  often,  and  it  may  be  presumed 
increasingly,  an  architectural  erection  of  public  util- 
ity—  a  fountain,  a  lavatory,  or  a  band  stand  —  will 
be  the  keynote  of  the  little  area's  development. 

To  these  sufficient  reasons,  one  more  consid- 
eration may  be  added.  Our  premise  shall  be 
that  a  city  square  which  has  no  practical  use  is 
sad,  deserted,  out-of-place.  If  it  is  designed  to 
be  beautiful,  then,  this  purpose  should  be  given 
the  unmistakable  emphasis  that  formalism  grants. 
Originally  the  public  square  was  a  market.  When 
the  paved  rectangle  has  been  abandoned  and  the 
city  desires  to  redeem  the  dreary  waste  of  flagging, 
there  are  three  uses  to  put  it  to.  The  space  may 
be  built  upon,  which  is  never  to  be  recommended; 
it  may  be  dedicated  to  the  children  and  transformed 
into  a  playground;  or,  retaining  the  advantages 
which  it  offers  to  pedestrianism  for  short-cuts,  it 
may  be  distinctly  devoted  to  the  cause  of  city 
beauty.  If  the  latter  course  be  chosen,  there  is  no 
reason  why  a  pretense  of  nature  should  be  at- 
tempted. It  is  one  of  the  few  cases  in  which  rus 
in  iirbe  on  city  property  may  reasonably  be  given 
the  artificial  mould  of  formalism.  The  regular 
beds  of  flowers,  bordering  the  walks;  the  stretches 
of  greensward  in  the  angles;  the  fountain,  the  piece 
of    sculpture,    has   each    its   raison   d'etre.       It    is 


Squares"  anD  plaggrounDa  175 


designed  to  please  the  eye  of  busy,  hurried  men 
and  women — not  for  idle  hours  or  children's  frolic 
— and  is  sincere  and  genuine. 

One  is  tempted  to  turn  aside  here  and  quote 
from  Canon  Rawnsley's  personal  and  loving  ac- 
count of  Ruskin's  "  Hinksey  Diggers."  '  Perhaps 
this  would  be  worth  while  too,  for  Ruskin  had  a 
way  of  re-enforcing  his  aesthetic  appeals  with  a 
moral  argument.  It  will  be  recalled  that  a  part  of 
the  diggers'  work  was  to  put  to  rights  the  three- 
cornered  bit  of  green  in  Hinksey  village.  The 
master  himself  had  gone  to  Italy,  but  he  had  left 
his  instructions  for  "  the  young  gentlemen  "  of 
Oxford  who  had  agreed  to  handle  picks  and  spades 
and  barrows  in  the  summer  term.  They  knew 
just  what  they  should  do  to  make  the  green  fair 
again.  But  Ruskin  kept  writing  letters,  for  his 
heart  was  in  the  work.  The  filth  in  the  back 
streets  of  Genoa  only  made  him  more  determined, 
evidently,  to  see  to  it  that  the  squalor  of  Hinksey 
should  be  removed,  so  that  village  life  in  decency 
should  be  possible.  He  urged  men  to  endure 
hardness  for  the  great  idea.  In  a  letter  from  Rome 
he  tells  how  sure  he  is  that  if  St.  Paul  should  come 
on  earth  to-day  he  would  approve  all  honest  at- 
tempts to  show  forth  faith  by  works.  In  a  later 
letter  he  expresses  a  hope  that  his  diggers  may 
some  of  them  band  themselves  together,  one  day, 
and  go  out  in  a  kind  of  Benedictine  brotherhood, 
to  cultivate  waste  places,  and  make  life  tolerable  in 
great  cities  for  the  children  of  the  poor. 
'  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  April,  1900. 


176         ITmprcvcment  of  Clowns  anD  Citfes 


His  wish  has  come  nearer  realization  in  the  pres- 
ent playground  movement  than  he  could  well  have 
foreseen.  But  we  shall  speak  of  that  further  on, 
since  the  wish  for  city  beauty  has  not  depended 
wholly  on  the  impulse  of  tenderness  and  pity.  It 
has  awakened  a  popular  desire  that  something  be 
done  with  these  small  areas  to  make  them  decora- 
tive even  before,  in  some  cases,  it  has  definitely 
determined  what  treatment  is  the  better  fitted  for 
them.  Two  phases  especially  of  this  demand  may 
be  noted  with  interest. 

First,  the  attention  of  the  women's  clubs.  It  is 
well  that  their  appreciation  of  the  desirability  of 
beauty  as  an  element  in  civic  development  should 
reach  small  matters  as  well  as  large.  Grand 
schemes  for  vast  public  improvements  with  parks, 
drives,  and  boulevards  naturally  stir  enthusiasm 
and  allure  to  effort ;  but  these  smaller  plans  for  mak- 
ing a  city  attractive  are  also  discussed  and  pro- 
moted. With  the  beginning  of  1900,  for  instance, 
the  Woman's  Club  of  Brooklyn,  the  largest  organi- 
zation of  its  kind  in  the  borough,  resolved  to  begin 
its  effort  to  beautify  the  city  by  trying  to  secure  a 
lovelier  treatment  of  the  small  parks  and  squares 
which  had  hitherto  been  sadly  neglected.  And 
almost  simultaneously  the  Woman's  Club  of  Chi- 
cago, which  occupies  a  like  distinguished  local 
position,  voted  to  spend  from  its  own  funds  $1000 
for  the  improvement  of  one  such  little  area.  The 
two  examples  are  no  more  than  types  of  a  deal  of 
feminine  endeavor  to  be  found  in  many  cities.  In 
Philadelphia,  the  City  Branch  of  the  strong  Fair- 


"Squares"  auD  S5!asciroun&5  177 


mount  Park  Art  Association,  which  has  a  member- 
ship of  men  and  children  as  well  as  women,  was 
established  in  1888  to  do  for  "  the  city  streets  and 
parks  "  what  the  larger  branch  has  done  for  Fair- 
mount  Park. 

The  other  interesting  phase  of  the  demand  is  of 
narrower  scope.  This  is  a  popular  endorsement  of 
the  decision  of  railroad  corporations  that  it  pays  to 
make  station  surroundings  attractive.  Of  the  posi- 
tion of  the  companies  themselves,  in  improving  so 
markedly  the  trail  of  the  railroad  through  the  city, 
there  already  has  been  mention.  This  other 
effort  appears  in  the  adornment  of  the  public  plaza 
which  often  is  placed  before  the  station.  A  few 
years  ago  the  city  of  Genoa  set  about  this  task, 
surrounding  the  memorial  to  Columbus  with  flowers 
and  shrubs  and  grass,  "  in  order,"  as  the  Geno- 
vese  authorities  distinctly  declared,  "  that  the  first 
impression  of  strangers  coming  to  our  city  may  be 
favorable."  The  undertaking  was  very  widely 
commented  upon  in  the  newspapers  of  the  United 
States,  where  a  town's  sensitiveness  as  to  how  it 
impresses  strangers  is  often  out  of  proportion  to  its 
regard  for  the  effect  on  its  own  citizens,  and  the 
example's  success  gave  new  authority,  strength, 
and  courage  to  efforts  to  improve  station-squares. 
Various  instances  might  be  cited.  A  good  one  is 
that  of  Providence,  where  to  the  new  station  there 
was  added  a  municipal  improvement  of  Exchange 
Place  that  wrought  a  transformation.  Incident  to 
the  improvement  was  the  gift  of  a  memorial  foun- 
tain, to  be  placed  in  the  square,  and  a  decision  to 


t78         "ffnipiorement  ot  ^owiis  anO  Cities 


group  around  this  prominent  and  pleasant  site 
the  public  buildings.  There  can  be  no  question 
that  hereafter  "first  impressions"  of  Providence 
will  be  better  than  of  old.  Another  American  case 
may  be  noted  as  an  interesting  modification.  A 
plan  for  establishing  a  certain  little  park  was  under 
discussion  in  Jersey  City.  The  president  of  the 
board,  declared  a  newspaper,  "  said  it  was  useless 
to  put  the  park  there  unless  it  could  be  seen,  as  the 
idea  was  to  advertise  the  city  by  getting  rid  of  the 
unsightly  view  as  trains  enter  the  city  from  the  cut. ' ' 
The  clerk  replied  that  "  the  new  park  would  afford 
a  striking  and  picturesque  view,  and  this  view  will  be 
the  first  to  meet  the  eyes  of  incoming  passengers." 
That  the  city  would  seem  to  them  the  better  for  it, 
is  obvious.  This  is  a  rather  bold  demand  for  mu- 
nicipal art;  but  in  choosing  the  site  of  a  decorative 
area,  consideration  of  the  stranger's  impression 
might  be  kept  in  mind. 

The  subject  of  playgrounds  is  one  that  has  come 
up  lately  with  great  vigor.  It  may  be  called  one  of 
modern  philanthropy's  favorites,  and  is  one  in  which 
the  women's  clubs  have  taken  a  particular  interest. 
There  is  no  need  to  comment  here  on  the  perfect  ap- 
propriateness of  their  course,  or  on  the  philanthro- 
pic side  of  the  question — attractive  as  that  would  be. 
The  point  is  that  a  great  many  playgrounds  are 
now  annually  added  to  city  possessions,  and  that  a 
great  deal  of  money  is  expended  upon  them. 

In  London  the  Metropolitan  Public  Gardens 
Association  reported  in  1898  that  since  its  organiza- 


"Squares"  anO  plaiigrounDs  179 


tion,  in  1882,  it  had  laid  out,  wholly  or  in  part, 
ninety-eight  playgrounds  and  gardens,  these  having 
an  area  of  125  acres  and  costing  upwards  of 
^41,000.  In  the  State  Legislature  of  Massachu- 
setts in  1900  a  bill  appeared  to  allow  Boston  to 
borrow  at  once  the  money  for  twenty  playgrounds, 
and  this  after  immense  results  from  private  efforts. 
In  New  York  a  bill  was  passed  in  1887  authorizing 
the  city  to  expend  a  million  dollars  every  year  for 
playgrounds  in  the  congested  part  of  the  island, 
and  as  much  as  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  has 
been  spent  in  merely  adorning  and  equipj)ing  a 
single  one.  In  Chicago  a  great  deal  has  been  done ; 
Philadelphia  was  a  pioneer  in  the  movement,  and 
it  would  now  be  not  too  much  to  say,  perhaps,  that 
there  is  no  city  in  the  United  States  which  has  a 
woman's  club  which  does  not  have  something  to 
show  as  a  children's  playground. 

Now  the  pertinence  of  this  to  civic  art  is  the 
effect  of  the  i)laygrounds  on  the  city's  appearance. 
The  playground  is  a  bit  of  land  seized  from  the 
builder's  clutch  and  set  apart  for  the  children,  con- 
secrated to  their  use  to  help  them  keep  their  souls 
pure  though  they  soil  their  hands.  It  may  or  may 
not  be  beautiful.  The  small  squares — set  about  the 
city  like  little  girls  dressed  for  company  and  told 
not  to  stir  lest  they  muss  their  stiff  white  skirts — 
have  for  function  in  the  city's  topography  to  look 
well  ordered  and  pleasant.  They,  practically,  are 
sitting  for  photographs.  But  the  playgrounds  have 
a  different  purpose.  While  they  contain  possibili- 
ties for   the    adornment  of    the  city,   that  part  of 


i8o         Umprovement  of  ilawns  an^  Cities 


their    advantage    is    secondary.       It    is    only    the 
aesthetic  phase  of  a  distinctly  philanthropic  effort. 

As  a  result,  some  of  the  most  famous  playgrounds 
in  the  world  are  bare  even  of  grass,  gaining  such 
beauty  at  they  have  from  the  grace  of  the  trees  and 
the  happiness  of  the  children.  Such  are  the  long 
earth  stretches  of  Boston  Common,  of  the  Champs- 
Elysees,  of  the  Garden  of  the  Tuileries,  and  of  the 
Prater  at  Vienna.  But  we  shall  do  well  to  note 
that  bareness  belongs  to  the  old-er  playgrounds. 
Beauty  is  good  for  the  child  as  well  as  for  the  city, 
and  although  here  and  there  enthusiasm  for  out- 
door gymnasia  is  tempting  to  architectural  dissipa- 
tion, and  is  leaving  all  or  some  of  the  area  bare  of 
turf  and  flowers,  yet  this  tendency  is  likely  to  be 
kept  in  reasonable  bounds  by  its  expense.  The 
drift  will  be  toward  such  natural  adornment  with 
vegetation  as  is  possible  without  injury  to  the 
primary  purpose  of  the  ground. 

Some  considerations  suggest  themselves  for  the 
treatment  of  playgrounds.  First,  they  must  con- 
tain seats,  so  that  watching  nurses  and  mothers 
may  be  comfortable.  These  should  be  inconspicu- 
ously placed,  with  as  little  formalism  as  possible, 
and  should  be  painted  green  to  offer  no  harshly 
artificial  contrast.  Secondly,  it  is  a  rule,  and  a 
good  rule,  in  Paris  to  provide  these  small  parks 
with  shallow  pools  of  water  where  children  are 
permitted  to  sail  toy  boats.'  This  pool  may  easily 
be  made  a  ])leasant  feature  in  the  landscape  treat- 
ment, and  to  one  who  has  seen  the  children  gather 

^  The   wading  pond  also  has  since  come  into  vogue  for  the 

healthful  joy  which  it  may  give. 


"Squares"  anD  jplaggrounOs  iSi 


year  after  year  and  day  after  day  around  the  great 
fountains  that  are  in  Trafalgar  Sciuare  in  London, 
it  has  sometimes  seemed  that  no  like  area  of  water 
in  the  world  gives  such  pleasure  as  does  this,  so 
incidentally.  Its  success  makes  a  strong  plea  for 
the  playground's  shallow  pond.  Third,  it  is  held, 
notably  in  London,  that  no  playground  is  complete 
without  a  drinking  fountain;  but  when  this  is  a 
separate  construction  it  should  be  inconspicuous. 
And,  finally,  the  playground's  purpose— to  give  to 
city  children  a  bit  of  country  —  suggests  that  the 
landscape  treatment  should  be  not  formal,  but 
natural.  There  will  be  many  obstacles  to  success, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  little  square;  but  the  play- 
ground will  have  over  the  former  the  great  advan- 
tages of  a  larger  area  and  of  the  appropriateness  of 
the  purpose  to  this  style.  It  would  be  interesting 
now  to  follow  with  some  detail  the  particular 
achievements  of  the  societies  and  clubs  that  have 
made  playgrounds  their  special  object.  But  we 
shall  point  out  only  a  few  that  are  suggestive. 

In  Philadelphia,  the  Culture  Extension  League 
has  done  much,  including  the  equipment  of  what 
has  been  declared  to  be  the  most  complete  play- 
ground in  the  United  States.  The  provision  there 
of  fiagstaffs  and  flags  is  a  detail  with  some  bearing 
on  city  beauty.  The  transformation  of  League 
Island,  for  the  treatment  of  which  competitive  de- 
signs were  secured,  is  another  striking  evidence  in 
Philadelphia  of  what  this  playground  movement 
can  do  to  improve  a  city's  aspect.  The  thing  is 
seen  again  in  New  York,  where  Mulberry  Bend 
Park,    for   instance,    occupies    the    old    site   of    a 


i82         Ifmprovement  of  ^ovvne  aiiD  Gltics 


collection  of  filthy  tenements.  In  Boston,  the  co- 
operative work  of  the  women  and  the  city  on  the 
Charles  Bank  is  full  of  significance.  In  Chicago, 
as  in  several  other  cities,  the  movement  for  munici- 
pal playgrounds  has  resulted  in  the  use  and  in- 
creased appreciation  of  school  yards  and  the 
demand  that  henceforth  all  public  schools  shall  have 
yards.^  In  Baltimore,  the  Children's  Playground 
Association  of  the  United  Women  of  Maryland  has 
the  matter  in  charge,  and  very  frequently  the  inter- 
est of  many  women's  clubs  is  reflected  in  the  play- 
ground committee  of  a  local  or  State  Federation. 

The  broadening  aesthetic  influence  of  interest  in 
playgrounds  is  shown  by  its  effect  on  the  Metro- 
politan Public  Gardens  Association  of  London. 
This  society,  which  has  worked  in  accord  with  the 
County  Council  and  is  very  strong,  not  only  pro- 
vides and  equips  open  spaces,  but  places  seats  on 
public  sites,  plants  trees  in  streets  and  gardens, 
improves  existing  playgrounds,  and  has  erected 
numerous  drinking  fountains  with  special  donations 
made  to  it  for  that  purpose.  Its  report  of  1898 
noted,  aside  from  the  provision  of  playgrounds, 
its  completion  of  three  hundred  other  undertakings 
for  London's  betterment.  Perhaps,  indeed,  it 
would  be  worth  while  to  make  some  typical  extracts 
from  that  one  year's  report,  as  showing  what  a 
society  of  this  sort  can  do  for  preserving  and  in- 
creasing the  amenities  of  a  city.  The  association 
in  those  twelve  months  assisted  in  the  preservation, 
acquisition,  or  improvement  of  fourteen  open 
spaces;  it  planted  trees  on  six  others;  it  prevented 
'VJ.  note,  P2.  30  . 


"Squares"  anD  ipiaBgrounDs  183 


building  operations  on  one  open  space  and  on  an 
unused  burial  ground ;  it  successfully  opposed  three 
bills  in  Tarliament;  it  set  up  seats  in  nine  localities; 
it  planted  trees  on  seven  public  sites  and  by  repre- 
sentations to  the  proper  authority  secured  their 
planting  in  front  of  the  Tate  Gallery;  it  erected 
several  drinking  fountains;  it  adorned  with  shrubs 
and  flowers  an  old  burial  ground  which  had  not  yet 
been  opened  to  the  public — as  the  interest  in  play- 
grounds now  demands  that  the  disused  and  neg- 
lected burial  grounds  of  London  shall  be  —  but 
which  happened  to  be  overlooked  by  a  hospital; 
and  it  conducted  a  competition  for  artistic  designs 
for  the  fountains  in  the  playgrounds.  The  society 
also,  as  an  expert  in  landscape  gardening,  did  some 
work  for  others,  in  the  role  of  an  employee;  and 
the  long  record  of  its  activity  is  not  complete  until 
it  is  said  that  the  assistance  which  the  society  gave 
in  the  acquisition  of  open  spaces  included  the  col- 
lection of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  a  few 
summer  weeks,  so  that  an  estate  of  thirty-six  acres 
which  was  wanted  as  an  addition  to  Hampstead 
Heath  could  be  secured. 

In  New  York  a  large  number  of  philanthropic 
societies,  such  as  the  Society  for  Improving  the 
Condition  of  the  Poor,  the  Charity  Organization 
Society,  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  and  the  various 
Settlements,  have  pooled  their  playground  interests 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Outdoor  Recreation 
League.  An  interesting  result  is  achieved  by  the 
formation  through  this  means  of  a  committee  which 
is  very  strong  in  resources  and  influence. 


i84         llmprorement  ot  ^owns  anO  Cities 


The  argument  needs  no  elaboration  that  the 
playground  interest  may  do  much  for  city  beauty, 
even  though  that  result  be  only  a  phase  of  a  dis- 
tinctly philanthropic  effort.  For  large  returns, 
there  is  here  required  merely  some  esthetic  sense 
and  enough  interest  in  the  city's  aspect  to  insist 
that  such  regard  shall  put  its  refining  touch  on  the 
work.  The  playground  will  thus  bless  children  and 
city  at  once. 

We  have  said  that  in  many  cities,  and  notably  in 
Chicago,  the  interest  in  playgrounds  has  created  a 
demand  for  school  yards  and  a  higher  appreciation 
of  them.  There  has  come  from  this  a  movement 
which  may  be  fairly  distinguished  from  that  for 
playgrounds,  and  which,  whatever  its  other  motives, 
makes  clearly  for  civic  adornment.  This  is  the 
embellishment  of  the  grotinds  of  the  public  schools. 
The  celebration  of  Arbor  Day  by  schools  now  in- 
cludes often  the  planting  of  trees  in  front  of  the 
building,  and  of  trees  and  shrubs  in  the  school  yard. 
In  Denver  recently,  under  the  impulse  of  the  City 
Improvement  Society,  five  hundred  dollars  was  ex- 
pended for  schoolground  trees  on  a  single  Arbor 
Day.  But  the  movement  goes  further.  In  Roches- 
ter, for  example — to  take  a  city  in  which  private 
gardens  are  still  the  rule — the  Woman's  Industrial 
and  Educational  Union,  with  the  approval  of  the 
Park  and  School  boards,  has  selected  barren  and 
uninteresting  school  yards,  has  planted  them  with 
seeds  and  shrubs,  and  has  offered  prizes  for  those 
best   kept.     Incidentally,   care  is  taken  to  choose 


"Squares"  anO  iplaEgrounDs  185 

plants  which  blossom  in  the  spring  and  autumn 
when  the  children  will  most  enjoy  them,  rather  than 
those  that  flower  in  midsummer.  The  Massachu- 
setts Horticultural  Society  has  a  committee  on  this 
work,  and  lately  many  organizations  have  taken  it 
up.  The  advantage  appears  in  the  beautifying  of 
the  street,  and  of  a  bit  of  public  property,  but 
even  more  in  its  educational  effectuponthechildren. 
If  the  art-for-schools  movement,  which  decorates 
the  inside  of  schoolrooms,  is  to  be  commended  for 
its  education  of  the  child  in  the  love  and  knowledge 
of  beauty,  surely  the  instruction  afforded  by  beauti- 
ful school  yards  is  not  far  behind.  It  will  make 
directly  for  civic  jesthetics  in  the  future  as  well  as 
in  the  present. 

In  the  squares  and  children's  playgrounds  we 
find  illustration  of  the  fact  that  constant  and  tire- 
less vigilance  is  the  price  of  city  dignity  and  beauty. 
The  lesson  has  appeared  more  than  once  before; 
but  this  is  a  good  time  to  enforce  it,  a  good  time  to 
pause  for  the  realization  that  as  urban  philanthropy 
may  have,  as  it  clearly  does  have,  an  aesthetic 
phase,  so  a  beneficent  deed  does  not  realize  its 
possibilities  until  it  blesses  from  every  standpoint. 
To  put  a  playground  around  a  school  is  well,  or  to 
put  a  playground  where  none  was;  but  until  there 
is  serious  thought  of  its  appearance,  in  loving  zeal 
for  the  city's  aspect  —  until  the  playground  has 
beauty,  the  good  deed  falls  short  of  the  perfection 
it  ought  to  have.  It  is  the  glory  of  civic  aesthetics 
that  one  can  work  for  them  in  so  many  ways. 


CHAPTER    XI 

ARCHITECTURAL    DEVELOPMENT 

IN  the  aspect  of  a  city  nothing  is  more  striking 
than  the  buildings.  They  stamp  and  grave  the 
town.  Whatever  the  site,  or  the  street  plan,  or 
the  character  of  the  way,  the  buildings  are  ever 
the  dominating  feature.  They  are  background  and 
foreground,  they  define  the  vista,  and  because 
the  community  is  a  collection  of  human  beings,  the 
dwellings  in  which  these  residents  live  and  the 
houses  which  they  build  for  their  work  or  pleasure 
are  the  most  obvious  material  expression  of  its  life. 
When  all  is  said,  the  city  is  mainly  and  popularly 
judged  by  its  buildings.  In  them  is  history  written ; 
pressed  down  by  the  mason's  hammer,  hewn  by 
the  carpenter's  chisel,  and  set  in  its  proper  relation 
to  world  and  time  by  the  plan  of  the  architect. 

Let  us  see  how  true  this  has  been.  In  the  Middle 
Ages  the  city  clustered  around  the  great  cathedral. 
In  front  of  the  church  was  the  market-place.  So 
in  the  life  of  the  people  the  Church  was  dominant. 
It  was  in  the  heart  of  city  and  citizens,  overmaster- 
ing with  its  mystery,  and  towering  in  vastness,  age, 

1 86 


Brcbttectural  Bcrclopment  iSy 


and  power  over  life's  other,  trivial,  concerns.  In 
Classic  Rome,  the  centre  was  the  forum,  and  to-day 
Roman  law  is  the  vital  legacy  of  the  empire. 
Above  the  forum  on  one  side  rise  still  the  ruins  of 
the  vast  palace  of  the  Caesars;  at  another  end, 
looms  the  curving  wall  of  the  Colosseum.  In  these 
three  constructions,  forum,  palace,  and  gladiators' 
theatre,  is  fairly  written  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
people  of  Rome.  High  over  Athens  stood  the 
Acropolis,  with  its  lovely  temples  that  were  shrines 
of  art  as  well  as  of  jjiety,  and  they  tell  still  of  the 
glory  of  Greece.  In  Genoa,  called  "  la  Superba, " 
in  Florence  and  Venice,  are  rows  of  palaces  of 
merchant  princes,  and  the  tower  of  Giotto,  the 
great  bronze  doors  of  the  Florentine  baptistry 
across  the  way  from  it,  the  huge  Duomo,  and  the 
cathedrals  at  Pisa  and  Siena,  are  records  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance  that  grew  out  of  commercial 
wealth.  In  Northern  Europe  tlie  trace  of  the 
Flemish  Renaissance  is  written  yet  in  the  town  halls 
where  the  republican  citizens  did  their  business, 
and  in  the  lofty  belfries  which  were  their  watch 
towers  and  where  their  alarm  bells  hung.  So,  in 
each  civilization,  the  spirit  of  the  age  has  had 
architectural  expression.  Essential  history  has  de- 
termined the  cutting  and  placing  of  stones. 

When  we  come  to  apply  this  conclusion  to  modern 
cities,  the  buildings  gain  a  new  dignity  and  import- 
ance. The  relative  prominence  of  vast  commercial 
structures  becomes  significant,  so  that  it  is  not  far- 
fetched to  see  in  the  American  sky-scraper  a  hint 
of  a  people's  commercial  daring  and  aspiration. 


i83        llmprovement  ot  ^owiie  and  Cities 


When  huge  manufactories  dominate  the  scene,  we 
need  not  see  hands  and  faces  to  know  of  industrial- 
ism; and  from  the  gaudiness  or  good  taste  of  pri- 
vate dwellings  we  draw  unhesitating  inference. 

In  the  records  of  the  older  cities,  it  was  observ- 
able, however,  that  public  buildings  rather  than 
private  were  the  truest  reflection  of  the  people. 
This  is  because  the  public  structures  belong  to 
all.  City  halls,  courts,  churches  —  these  are  the 
people's  houses.  No  individual  limitations  hamper 
their  construction.  They  have  behind  them  the 
resources  of  the  populace  and  their  shortcomings 
are  those  of  the  community's  average.  If  a  city, 
then,  is  notable  for  handsome  administrative  build- 
ings, or  splendid  edifices  devoted  to  religion,  arts, 
and  letters,  there  is  record  of  something  more  im- 
portant than  merely  its  esthetic  magnificence. 
And  the  conclusion  works  the  other  way.  If  a  city 
has  not  a  crown  of  imposing  structures,  it  cannot, 
in  a  democratic  age,  gain  towers  and  domes  and 
spires  that  stir,  until  the  popular  mind  has  risen  to 
the  point  where  it  dreams  of  them  and  wishes  for 
them  concretely  and  insistently. 

So  the  problem  of  city  adornment  with  beautiful 
buildings  is  not  simply  one  of  co-operation,  and 
adherence  to  a  few  plain  rules.  The  spirit  of  the 
time  writes  itself  down  resistlessly.  The  best  we 
can  do  at  any  period  is  to  encourage  its  highest 
expression  and  strive  to  guide  wisely  its  energy. 
When  a  great  impulse  seizes  the  people  and  carries 
them  forward,  they  will  not  be  ignorant  of  it. 
When  in  Florence  the  Duomo,  the  palace  of  the 


Brcbitcctural  Development  189 


Signoria,  and  the  great  churches  of  Santa  Croce 
and  Santa  Maria  Novella  leaped  into  being  almost 
in  the  same  year,  that  proud,  impatient  city  thrilled 
with  new  spirit,  and  issued  at  the  birth  throes  of 
the  cathedral  a  self-conscious  cry  that  has  become 
famous  in  the  story  of  city  building.' 

From  the  standpoint  of  urban  aesthetics  the  thing, 
clearly,  that  most  counts  is  the  aspiration  and  will 
of  the  people.  If  civic  pride  arises  and  there  is 
regard  for  the  appearance  of  the  city,  appreciation 
that  the  individual  should  show  a  respect  for  the 
public  in  what  he  thrusts  before  it,  and  a  thought 
that  in  the  building  of  the  people's  houses  nothing 
can  be  too  good,  then  we  may  be  sure  that  under- 
lying these  there  are  noble  aspirations.  These  are 
essential  history. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  gratifying 
features  of  the  new  movement  for  beauty  in  the 
city  that  such  requirements  are  now  broadly  made 
by  public  opinion.  The  decoration,  external  and 
internal,  which  is  bestowed  on  private  structures,  is 
not  wholly  selfish  nor  wholly  for  the  sake  of  adver- 
tisement. It  is  only  the  individual  expression  of  a 
popular  impulse,  for  to-day  luxury  of  construction 
is  not  confined  to  governments  and  kings.  Yet  the 
stronger    emphasis    still     appears    in    the    public 

'"The  Florentine  Republic,  soaring  ever  above  the 
thought  of  its  rivals,  desires  that  an  edifice  be  constructed,  so 
magnificent  in  height  and  beauty  that  it  shall  surpass  any 
like  construction  produced  at  the  time  of  their  greatest  power 
by  Greece  and  Rome  !  " 


iQo        Tfrnprovement  of  ^owns  an5  Cities 


buildings.  We  find  public  libraries  built  on  notably 
artistic  lines,  though  they  would  have  held  books 
as  well  had  they  been  planned  like  cotton  factories; 
occasional  court  rooms  adorned,  in  response  to 
popular  opinion,  with  mural  paintings  as  beautiful 
as  any  private  work  ;  and  stained  glass,  good 
sculpture,  and  lovely  mosaics  in  legislative  halls. 
We  need  not  fear,  then,  for  the  interpretation  to  be 
put  on  the  costly  mural  paintings  in  some  hotels,  the 
fine  mosaics  in  a  theatre,  or  the  good  sculpture  on 
many  commercial  structures.  Indeed,  just  because 
there  is  a  private  demand  for  these  things,  the 
satisfaction  of  the  public  demand  is  made  the  bet- 
ter, for  architecture  is  in  art  of  catholic  application. 
Whatever  raises  its  estate  and  anywhere  dignifies  it 
causes  a  thrill  through  the  whole  wide  range. 

Architecture  being  an  art,  the  good  or  beautiful 
in  it  is  permanent.  The  present  is  thus  brought 
into  competition  with  the  accumulations  of  the  past 
and,  as  in  every  art,  it  seems  as  if  the  golden  age 
had  passed.  Perhaps  on  that  account  we  give  the 
present  less  credit  than  it  ought  to  have.  It  has 
had  to  wrestle  with  many  new  problems,  singularly 
difficult  from  the  artistic  side;  yet  a  hundred  years' 
test  will  probably  disclose  that  the  last  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century  left  its  quota  of  good  buildings 
upon  the  world.' 

'  It  is  significant,  from  this  standpoint,  that  in  several  re- 
cent voting  contests  among  American  architects  to  determine 
a  list  of  the  "  ten  most  beautiful  structures  in  the  United 
States,"  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  number 
have  in  each  case  been  buildings  not  yet  ten  years  old.     The 


arcbitcctural  Development  191 


Consider  the  merely  political  difficulties  with 
which  public  architecture  in  the  United  States  has 
had  to  strive.  Federal  structures  have  been  pro- 
duced by  wholesale  in  the  office  of  the  Supervising 
Architect  at  Washington,  after  conventional  designs. 
State  buildings  have  been  planned  by  architects 
who  owed  their  employment  to  legislative  com- 
mittees readily  appreciative  of  ostentation  and  vul- 
garity. Municipal  structures  have  been  entrusted 
to  architects  who  had  a  "  pull,"  for  it  has  been 
customary  to  encourage  "  local  talent  "  even  at  the 
sacrifice  of  local  beauty.  It  is  little  wonder  that 
the  architecture  of  public  buildings  in  American 
cities  has  been  criticised  and  ridiculed.  If  it  has 
begun  at  last  to  attain,  in  some  large  measure,  to 
dignity  and  splendor,  emancipating  itself  from 
political  trammels  and   solving  difficult  problems 

vote  is  by  no  means  conclusive,  for  the  survey  of  the  field, 
limited  as  that  is,  was  doubtless  incomplete  ;  but  it  is  a  straw 
that  is  not  to  be  ignored. 

An  incidental  revelation  of  the«;e  competitions  has  also  im- 
portant bearing  on  the  movement  for  municipal  art  in  the 
United  States.  In  one  of  the  most  important  contests,  in 
1899,  the  result,  secured  by  a  compilation  of  two  hundred 
lists  mainly  sent  in  by  architects,  revealed  that  of  the 
five  buildings  judged  the  "most  beautiful"  in  the  United 
States,  two  were  structures  belonging  to  the  national  govern- 
ment ;  three,  including  one  of  the  former,  were  libraries  ; 
and  one  was  a  church.  All  of  these  belong,  in  a  sense,  to 
the  public.  In  the  full  list  of  ten  there  was  only  one  struct- 
ure that  was  private,  and  this  received  little  more  than  a 
quarter  of  the  vote.  Individual  lu.xury  and  taste  did  not  ap- 
pear  to  be  outstripping  the  public. 


192         Umpcovement  of  ^owns  aii&  Cities 


of  construction,  it  has  made  an  advance  that 
promises  much  for  town  and  urban  beauty. 

Plans  for  the  more  important  government  build- 
ings in  the  United  States  have  been  lately  submitted 
to  competition,  an  important  forward  step  born  of 
the  conviction  that  nothing  is  too  good  for  all  the 
people — that  the  public  should  profit  from  the  best 
talent  to  be  had.  In  many  States  there  has  lately 
been  advocacy,  and  in  some  the  adoption,  of  a  law 
licensing  architects,  which  is  a  precautionary 
measure  safeguarding  the  individual.  In  part,  the 
higher  ideal  for  public  structures  is,  no  doubt,  due 
merely  to  the  general  advance  in  luxury.  Some- 
thing else  of  it  is  due  to  the  influence  of  the  expo- 
sitions. The  Centennial  and  World's  Fair  were 
wonderful  artistic  stimulants  to  the  nation  at  large, 
and  the  smaller  expositions  have  exerted  a  like  in- 
fluence through  a  narrower  area.  Architects  are 
given  a  chance  to  make  beauty,  now  of  form  and 
now  of  color,  as  important  as  utility.  They  justify 
the  experiment.  At  once  they  have  employment 
of  this  kind  from  individuals  and  corporations,  and 
the  lesson,  driven  home  to  the  public,  begins  to 
bear  fruit  in  commissions  for  public  structures. 
Finally,  something  of  the  demand  is  due  to  civic 
spirit. 

The  time  passed  long  since  when  four  plain 
walls  and  a  roof  would  suffice  for  a  public  building. 
Then  came  that  forward  step  when  gentle  breeding 
and  good  taste  revealed  itself  in  the  chaste  and 
stately  beauty  of  edifices  that  are  still  among  the 
most  beautiful  in  the  United  States.     Next,  with 


^cbttectural  Development  193 


the  tide  of  immigration  and  tlie  rapid  advance  in 
wealth,  came  the  debauchment  of  the  architectural 
ideal  and  the  demoralization  of  popular  taste  which 
jumbled  styles  and  overloaded  walls  with  meaning- 
less decoration.  The  wealth  has  not  decreased; 
there  is  no  inclination  to  economize;  but  large 
means  are  ceasing  to  dazzle.  There  has  been 
leisure  for  study,  travel,  thought,  and  the  few  of 
cultured  taste  are  beginning  to  guide  and  direct 
the  wish  for  display.  Compare  the  interior  adorn- 
ment of  the  Congressional  Library  at  Washington 
with  that  of  the  Capitol,  the  adornment  of  the  new 
Appellate  Court  in  New  York  with  that  of  older 
court-houses,  the  decoration  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library  with  anything  of  the  same  sort  in  earlier 
public  buildings.  That  walls  must  be  artistically 
treated,  that  sculpture  and  painting  must  be  en- 
trusted to  artists,  until  the  house  beautiful  rises  as 
surely  as  the  house  strong  and  serviceable,  has 
come  to  be  demanded  in  important  public  struct- 
ures. Announcements  that  the  new  Custom  House 
and  the  Public  Library  in  New  York  would  be 
treated  in  this  way  were  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

Modern  philanthropy,  also,  with  its  vast  means 
and  mighty  ambition,  is  not  without  inspiration  to 
town  and  urban  architecture.  This  appears  both  in 
its  demand  for  structures  that  are  noble  and  impos- 
ing in  outward  appearance  —  as  libraries,  schools, 
and  various  charitable  institutions — and  in  its  more 
recent  approval  of  the  "cottage  plan"  of  con- 
struction, by  which  institutions  may  be  housed  in 


13 


194         Umprovemcnt  of  tTowns  anO  Cttfcs 


groups  of  cottages  of  artistic  design  placed  amid 
park  surroundings.  Through  the  one  plan  the 
community  gains  added  dignity  and  splendor  ; 
through  the  other,  added  beauty.  In  either  case 
its  architectural  character  receives  from  philan- 
thropy an  elevated  impulse. 

The  reaction  of  all  this  on  civic  beauty  is  clear. 
Ideals  for  public  and  private  construction  advance 
together.  Gradually,  this  new  building  makes  over 
the  city;  but  at  once  its  aspect  is  changed,  its 
dignity  enhanced.  Noble  sites  receive  worthier 
crowning.  A  real,  present  change  takes  place; 
and  because  history  reveals  how  truly  popular 
sentiment  is  written  in  the  buildings  that  a  people 
raise,  there  is  also  promise. 

Merely  as  a  record  of  progress,  the  decoration 
which  is  given  to  old  structures  will  be  as  striking 
as  new  work  could  be.  If  a  public  building  whose 
bare  interior  walls  satisfied  the  aesthetic  desires  of 
an  earlier  generation  is  now  treated  to  harmonize 
with  its  more  elaborate  exterior,  the  advance  is 
clearly  defined.  There  is  afforded  an  interesting 
record  of  the  progress  of  regard  for  municipal  art. 

France,  England,  and  the  United  States  offer 
three  suggestive  types  of  effort  in  the  interior 
decoration  of  earlier  buildings  with  new  mural 
paintings.  Paris,  which  in  the  discussion  of  cities 
is  the  most  convenient  "  France,"  gives  as  usual 
the  illustration  of  official  action.  In  the  last  thirty 
years  nearly  all  the  j?iatrics,  or  city  buildings,  of  the 
various  arrondissements  have  been  redecorated,   if 


Brcbitcctuial  Development  195 


not  rebuilt  or  enlarged;  and  upon  the  Pantheon's 
interior  walls,  bare  for  so  many  years,  much  costly 
and  lovely  work  has  been  done.  There,  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  roar  and  confusion  of  crowded 
Paris,  Puvis  de  Chavannes's  symbolic  figures  dwell 
in  peace  and  calm,  offering  dreams  of  the  past  and 
future  more  lasting  and  greater  than  the  deeds  of 
a  day.     For  this  the  city  paid  from  its  budget. 

In  England,  the  effort  is  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
people,  as  it  is  with  us,  and  very  interesting  illustra- 
tions are  afforded  by  recent  events.  The  present 
Royal  Exchange  has  stood  in  the  centre  of  London 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  the  panels  in  the  walls 
of  its  court  bare  to  the  thousands  who  gazed  upon 
them.  These  have  been  lately  filled  in,  some  by  in- 
dividuals, one  by  the  corporation  of  London,  one 
illustrating  the  great  fire  by  an  insurance  company, 
and  others  by  different  guilds  or  ancient  companies. 
An  instance  which  is  yet  more  striking  is  afforded 
by  the  new  interior  enrichment  of  St.  Paul's  Cathe- 
dral. Until  a  few  years  ago,  two  centuries  after 
its  completion,  practically  nothing  had  been  done 
in  this  direction.  Then  a  large  fund  was  raised. 
When  some  of  this  decoration  fell  below  the  popular 
ideal,  there  burst  forth  such  a  storm  of  criticism  as 
to  cause  a  modification  of  the  plans,  though  the 
designer  was  an  influential  Academician.  To  proof 
of  popular  interest  the  event  added  evidence  of  a 
popular  art  standard  and  of  loyalty  to  it.  Another 
type  of  effort  is  found  in  Birmingham,  where  the 
decoration  of  the  Town  Hall  with  mural  paintings 
has  been  undertaken  by  the  pupils  in  the  Municipal 


196         Umprovcmcnt  of  Q:o\vn0  anO  Cities 


School  of  Art.  The  subjects  are  obtained  from 
local  history,  and  if  the  pictures  lack  something 
from  the  purely  artistic  side,  they  easily  make  it  up 
in  interest  of  origin  and  message.  From  the  centre 
of  the  hall  they  are  at  least  as  decorative  as  a  con- 
ventional design  could  have  been — but  even  that 
has  heretofore  been  wanting.'  In  London,  to  re- 
turn to  the  metropolis,  yet  another  effort  is  illus- 
trated by  the  local  branch  of  the  Kyrle  Society. 
This  society's  work  is  mainly  philanthropic,  but 
there  is  a  decorative  section  of  which  the  purpose 
is  "to  foster  a  knowledge  and  love  of  art  by  such 
means  as  may  be  available."  In  the  Municipal 
Lodging  House  it  has  placed  mural  paintings  illus- 
trating the  charms  of  country  life;  and  on  its 
twentieth  anniversary,  in  1896,  it  reported  that  191 
institutions  had  been  more  or  less  decorated  through 
its  efforts.  So,  by  informal  means  and  humble,  art 
may  be  brought  into  the  city  and  material  condi- 
tions made  generally  fairer,  if  only  there  be  in  the 
people  the  spirit  to  do  this  thing.  If  they  have 
that,  they  will  find,  after  the  limited  new  construc- 
tion, much  energy  yet  left  to  expend  upon  the  old. 
In  the  United  States,  the  municipal  art  societies 
have  found  their  most  attractive  field  in  this  interior 
decoration  of  buildings.     The  New  York   society 

'  A  nearly  parallel  case,  which  may  have  suggestion  for 
American  communities,  is  afforded  by  the  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts  at  Antwerp.  It  has  been  the  custom  there,  during  the 
summer  vacation,  to  send  out  the  pupils  to  paint  the  interior 
of  village  churches  in  fresco,  of  course  as  a  gift  to  the 
parish. 


Bicbftcctural  Bcvelopmcnt  197 


was  founded  in  1893  "  to  provide  adequate  sculp- 
tural and  pictorial  decorations  for  the  public  build- 
ings and  parks  of  the  city,"  and  its  first  work  was 
the  mural  decoration  of  the  Criminal  Courts  build- 
ing.    This  was  a  new  structure,  but  that  circum- 
stance  is  an   unimportant   detail  since  there  had 
been   no   original    provision   for  such   adornment. 
The  following  year  the  Municipal  Art  Society  of 
Cincinnati  was  organized  with  similar  purpose,  and 
soon  it  gave  a  commission  for  the  adequate  mural 
decoration  of  the  vestibule  to  the  City  Hall.     This 
building  is  notable  as  having  been,  it  is  said,  the 
first  in  America  to  exemplify  municipal  art  as  it  was 
understood  in  the  Renaissance  cities  of  Italy,  the 
Common  Council  throwing  open  to  competition  the 
designs  for  the  stained  glass  windows  on  the  stair- 
case.    The  rapid  spread  of  such  a  spirit  was  soon 
evident,   however.     The  Strong  administration  in 
New  York,  for  instance,  appropriated  $10,000  for 
a  ceiling  decoration  in  the  City  Hall,  the  Municipal 
Art  Society  agreeing  to  increase  the  efficiency  of 
the  grant  by  conducting  a  competition  for  designs 
and  offering  prizes.     Baltimore  citizens  formed  a 
Municipal  Art  Society  in   1899  and  proved   their 
sincerity  in  urging  the  interior  adornment  of  the  new 
Court-House  by  promising  to  give  $5000  to   the 
work  if  the  city  would  appropriate  $10,000.     The 
examples  well  illustrate  the  popular  and  very  proper 
interest  in  this  obvious  branch  of  civic  art. 

With  the  effort  of  these  societies  is  to  be  classed 
the  distinct  "  art-for-schools  "  movement,  which 
has    spread    all    over   the   United   States.      This 


igs         Umprofement  of  tTowns  auD  G(ttes 


movement  is  not  less  vigorous  in  England,  where 
indeed  it  originated.  An  Art  for  Schools  Associa- 
tion was  formed  in  London  in  1880,  with  John 
Ruskin  president  and  Matthew  Arnold  and  Sir 
Frederick  Leighton  vice-presidents.  In  both  coun- 
tries the  object  is  twofold:  to  decorate  the  school- 
room itself,  bringing  beauty  to  what  is  for  so  many- 
hours  each  day  the  child's  environment  ;  and  to 
educate  the  mind  and  cultivate  the  taste  of  chil- 
dren. The  idea  is  that  thus  there  will  be  trained 
a  generation  which  knows  and  loves  beauty,  an  art 
public  which  will  make  beauty  law  in  home  and 
street  and  city.  In  as  far  as  the  decoration  of  a 
public  building  is  the  object,  the  "  art-for-schools  " 
movement  and  most  of  the  American  municipal  art 
societies  are  akin.  The  former  makes,  indeed,  a 
further  endeavor  ;  but  it  is  likely  that  the  municipal 
art  societies  can  also  properly  claim  an  educational 
function. 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  architectural  de- 
velopment along  artistic  lines  is  not  confined  to 
those  communities  which  have  societies  especially 
organized  to  promote  it.  Perhaps  more  progress 
has  been  made  in  Boston  than  in  any  other  Ameri- 
can city  without  a  distinctive  municipal  art  society; 
but  the  progress  is  in  various  directions  and  usually 
some  organization  is  discovered  behind  each  effort. 
The  thing  which  is  mainly  needed  is  public  spirit. 
Extremely  important  also  is  the  appearance  of 
official  interest  in  the  artistic  improvement  of  old 
buildings.  In  Massachusetts  the  Legislature  has 
iately  authorized  the  mural  decoration  of  the  State 


Brcbltectural  Scvclopmcnt  199 


House,  and  few  and  weighty  were  the  bills  intro- 
duced in  the  national  Congress  in  1900  that  had  a 
more  generally  approving  comment  in  the  press 
than  those  for  a  redecoration  of  the  Capitol. 

Through  all  these  efforts  experience  has  brought 
three  notable  facts  into  prominence.  First,  there 
is  the  discovery  that  the  growth  of  luxury  has 
raised,  in  the  present  movement  for  civic  beauty, 
a  new  standard  of  splendor.  Architect  and  mason 
have  been  joined  by  sculptor  and  artist  in  building 
the  people's  houses — a  proof,  by  the  way,  of  art's 
renewed  nearness  to  life.  Second,  it  is  seen  that 
the  workers  for  municipal  art  have  an  important 
field  for  activity  indoors  as  well  as  without.  Third, 
experience  reveals  that  interior  decoration,  con- 
ceived now  to  belong  to  artists,  requires  co-opera- 
tion between  tlie  designers.  It  were  even  well  if 
the  whole  of  a  room,  or  a  continuous  series  of 
sculpture,  were  given  to  one  man.  Unhappily  this 
has  been  sometimes  forgotten  in  eagerness  for 
variety.  But  this  error  has  come  through  the  fear 
of  excluding  some  good  thing.  It  has  arisen 
through  that  generous  spirit,  that  ambitious  pur- 
pose, and  larger  wealth,  which  lies  at  the  root  of 
our  modern  progress;  and  which,  with  artistic 
curbing,  may,  and  must,  do  much  to  make  towns 
aod  cities  splendid. 


CHAPTER  XII 

ARCHITECTURAL    OBLIGATIONS 

TO  build  with  taste  when  we  build  anew,  and  to 
adorn  the  plainer  architectural  bequests  of 
the  past  until  they  conform  to  a  higher  and  more 
luxurious  standard,  is  to  do  much  for  civic  art. 
There  yet  remain,  however,  architectural  obliga- 
tions. Splendid  public  structures  and  refined  and 
costly  private  work  give,  of  course,  new  glory  to 
the  visible  city  life;  but  we  would  not  have  our 
villages  or  cities  merely  new.  There  is  a  beauty 
of  age  hallowed  by  history,  since  art  is  undying. 
We  must  save  what  is  good  from  the  legacies  of 
earlier  days  if  we  would  secure  the  completest 
beauty  and  interest.  Second,  we  must  place  at- 
tractively the  new  possessions.  Third,  we  must 
not  merely  save  but  we  must  reveal  what  is  good 
in  the  old.  Fourth,  we  must  see  to  it  that  civic 
art's  transforming  touch  is  carried  into  every 
portion  of  the  community,  is  mindful  of  the 
lowly  as  well  as  of  the  high,  of  smaller  construc- 
tion as  well  as  of  greater.  Though  there  be 
development,    architecture    will    not    rest   merely 

200 


Brcbitectural  ObUgattons  201 


with  that.  It  will  discover  innumerable  oppor- 
tunities and  obligations  that  are  not  in  the  direct 
line  of  growth. 

Municipal  art,  in  recognizing  and  preserving  ex- 
amples of  earlier  architecture  for  the  sake  of  their 
beauty,  takes  no  account  necessarily  of  either  senti- 
ment or  history.  This  excludes  a  deal  of  effort; 
but  if  here  a  door,  there  a  window,  yonder  a  whole 
building  or  just  a  column  be  preserved  because  it 
is  beautiful,  the  city's  wealth  in  picturesqueness 
and  interest  is  increased.  Naturally,  the  field  for 
such  efforts  is  greater  in  the  old  world  than  in  the 
new.  Yet  in  the  care  with  which  the  beautiful, 
but  long  since  outgrown,  City  Hall  is  preserved  in 
New  York;  and  the  storm  of  j)rotests  which  pre- 
vented a  threatened  destruction  in  1896  of  the  Bul- 
finch  front  of  the  State  House  in  Boston,  we  have 
evidence  of  the  effort  here.  In  the  latter  case,  it 
is  worth  remark  —  as  showing  how  organizations 
appear  behind  art  movements  and  strengthen  them 
—  that  ringing  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the 
Boston  Society  of  Architects  and  that  from  even 
the  Fine  Arts  Federation  in  New  York  there  came 
a  letter  pleading  for  the  preservation  of  the  old 
front.  The  same  co-operation  appeared  in  regard 
to  the  proposed  changes  in  the  executive  mansion 
at  Washington.  In  that  case  the  appeal  of  the  local 
Fine  Arts  Union,  for  the  appointment  of  an  expert 
commission  to  consider  plans,  was  endorsed  by 
more  than  twenty  outside  architectural  clubs  and 
societies,   by   the    Fine    Arts   Federation    of    New 


202         Improvemetit  of  ^owns  an&  Cities 


York,  the  Municipal  Art  Society  of  Baltimore,  the 
Maryland  Historical  Society,  etc. 

There  must  needs  be  more  done  along  this  line, 
however,  in  ancient  cities  of  Europe  than  in  young 
America.  The  opportunity  is  greater,  if  not  more 
important;  and  the  effort  in  its  behalf  is  better 
organized.  This  line  between  historic  and  aesthetic 
interest  is  a  distinction  finer  than  most  preservation 
societies  care  to  draw;  but  in  the  London  Society 
for  the  Protection  of  Ancient  Buildings  there  is  a 
voluntary  association  devoting  itself  wholly  to  the 
subject's  aesthetic  phase.  The  society  preaches 
protection,  not  restoration.  It  was  founded  by 
William  Morris,  and  takes  as  its  creed  the  dictum, 
"  Renewal  of  old  work  should  never  be  resorted  to 
unless  repair  is  impossible.  When  unfortunately 
renewal  is  the  only  course,  the  new  work  should  be 
carefully  designed  as  far  as  may  be  to  harmonize 
with  the  old;  but  not  to  be  made  in  imitation  of  it, 
or  of  any  existing  work  elsewhere."  In  its  crusade 
against  what  it  calls  "  architectural  forgery  "  the 
society  depends  largely  upon  the  educational  in- 
fluence of  its  leaflets  and  newspaper  contributions. 
Its  somewhat  novel  work  is  suggestive  and  import- 
ant. It  cites  as  proof  of  the  justice  of  its  conten- 
tion the  surpassing  interest  of  an  old  edifice  to 
which  additions  and  alterations  have  been  made  in 
the  unmistakable  fashion  of  their  own  time:  "  A 
church  of  the  eleventh  century,"  it  says,  "  might 
be  added  to  or  altered  in  the  twelfth,  thirteenth, 
fourteenth,  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  or  even  seventeenth 
and    eighteenth     centuries;     but    every    change, 


Brcbttectural  Obligations  203 


whatever  history  it  destroyed,  left  history  in  the  gap, 
and  was  alive  with  the  spirit  of  the  deeds  done 
midst  its  fashioning.  The  result  of  all  this  was 
often  a  building  in  which  the  many  changes,  though 
harsh  and  visible  enough,  were,  by  their  very  con- 
trast, interesting  and  instructive  and  could  by  no 
possibility  mislead."  The  society  is  sui)ported  by 
the  annual  dues  of  its  members.  London  has  also, 
officially,  a  Committee  for  the  Survey  and  Registra- 
tion of  the  Old  Memorials  of  Greater  London.  Its 
duty  is  indicated  in  the  title. 

In  Paris  there  is  both  official  and  individual 
effort  in  this  direction.  In  the  opening  of  new 
thoroughfares  and  the  advancement  of  the  great 
public  works,  Parisians  have  had  not  merely  to 
build  anew,  but  to  destroy  before  they  could  create, 
and  to  destroy  with  reverence  and  mercy.  The 
city  itself  has  lulled  to  sleep  the  Place  des  Vosges, 
which  Henry  IV.  created;  for  on  the  proprietors 
of  the  surrounding  buildings  it  has  served  a  per- 
petual prohibition  to  change  the  shape  or  design  of 
any  structure.  Much  broader  is  the  sweep  of  a 
national  law,  enacted  in  1887.  This  requires  the 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction  and  Fine  Arts  to 
classify  all  the  ancient  or  classical  remains,  build- 
ings, or  ruins, which  it  would  be  to  the  national  inter- 
est to  preserve.  A  historic  monument  once  listed 
cannot  be  touched  henceforth  without  the  permis- 
sion of  the  minister.  Furthermore,  the  municipal- 
ity and  the  national  government  have  established  a 
number  of  historical  commissions,  of  which  one, 
the  Commission  du  Vieux  Paris,  organized  by  the 


204         flmprovcment  ot  ^ovvns  anD  Cities 


city  at  the  close  of  1897,  devotes  itself  especially 
to  the  seeking  out  and  preservation  of  artistic 
riches.  It  is  charged  also  with  the  superintendence 
of  any  necessary  changes.  The  large  and  honor- 
able membership  fittingly  includes  many  members 
of  the  other  commissions,  several  city  councillors, 
members  of  the  Academy,  and  officers  of  voluntary 
citizen  bodies  which  have  affiliated  purposes.  The 
commission  apportions  its  work  among  sub-com- 
mittees, one,  for  instance,  having  surveillance  of 
excavations  and  demolitions,  while  another  is 
charged  with  "  the  preservation  in  memory,  by 
photography  or  other  artistic  means,"  of  those 
parts  of  the  city  which  are  inevitably  destined  to 
rapid  transformation.  The  reproductions  are  de- 
signed to  go  to  the  Carnavelet  Museum,  the  city's 
historical  repository.  Once  a  month  the  full  com- 
mission meets.  Reports  on  the  ancient  stained 
glass  in  Paris  churches,  of  various  gifts  to  the 
commission,  and  of  an  examination  by  a  sub-com- 
mittee to  learn  what  of  artistic  interest  would  be 
endangered  by  the  prolongation  of  a  certain  street, 
give  indication  of  the  value  and  interest  of  its  work. 
Various  French  cities,  led  by  Lyons,  have  since 
appointed  similar  commissions,  and  the  scheme 
would  seem  to  be  well  adapted  for  the  older  towns 
of  the  United  States 

Belgium,  for  upwards  of  sixty  years,  has  entrusted 
the  protection  of  public  buildings  to  the  Royal  Com- 
mission of  Monuments.  Local  voluntary  historical 
societies  are  the  principal  guardians  of  the  struct- 
ures that  are  privately  owned  ;  but  in  Brussels  the 


Brcbitcctural  ©bligatlons  205 


city  inspector  of  buildings  is  expected  to  make  a 
careful  examination  of  any  area  about  to  be  recon- 
structed, reporting  as  to  those  parts  that  should  be 
preserved.  In  Antwerp  the  law  requires  the  ses- 
sions of  the  municipal  council  to  be  public  when 
the  destruction  of  public  buildings  or  ancient 
monuments  is  discussed;  and  the  owner  of  an  old 
building  can  apply  to  the  city  for  financial  aid,  if 
it  is  his  wish  to  restore  the  fagade  to  its  primitive 
style.  The  latter  clause  is  a  particularly  good  en- 
actment from  the  somewhat  superficial  standpoint 
merely  of  civic  aesthetics,  for  it  is  a  strong  encour- 
agement to  effectively  picturesque  and  typical 
fa9ades,  but  one  should  compare  it  with  the  teach- 
ings of  the  London  Society  for  the  Protection  of 
Ancient  Buildings.  When  the  work  is  "restora- 
tion "  instead  of  repair,  the  law's  result  might  be 
spectacular  and  scenic,  rather  than  substantial. 
There  is  in  Belgium,  also,  a  national  society  for  the 
protection  of  "  sites  and  monuments."  It  has 
drawn  up  an  elaborate  code  of  instructions  for  the 
guidance  of  those  who  would  repair  old  buildings. 
Careful  adherence  to  its  rules  would  possibly  obvi- 
ate some  of  the  objections  to  the  ordinance. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  ^he  greater  expe- 
rience of  European  cities,  as  compared  with  those 
of  America,  has  led,  first,  to  a  conscious  and  earn- 
est effort  to  preserve  interesting  specimens  of 
earlier  architecture,  and  to  regard  this  as  a  munici- 
pal duty.  Commissions  similar  to  those  of  the 
French  cities  are  to  be  found  everywhere  in  Italy 
and  often  in  Germany,  and  are  perhaps  the  most 


2o6         Uniprovement  of  tlowns  anJ)  Cities 


favored  form  of  organization.  When  the  city  or 
nation  does  not  attend  to  the  matter,  societies  of 
individuals  are  formed  for  the  purpose.  Secondly, 
the  distinction  between  restoration  and  repair  is  to 
be  emphasized.  Finally,  it  is  clear  that  in  the 
United  States  the  local  historical  societies  might, 
in  fuller  loyalty  to  their  purpose,  perform  a  great 
work  for  civic  aesthetics  by  extending  their  guar- 
dianship to  what  is  excellent  or  beautiful  in  local 
architecture. 

A  building's  site  is  like  a  statue's  pedestal. 
Therefore  until  buildings  are  well  placed,  their 
architecture  does  not  exert  its  full  power  to  add 
beauty  to  the  city.  It  is  not  enough  that  a  struct- 
ure be  good  or  that  it  sufficiently  harmonize  with 
its  neighbors.  It  must  be  so  situated  as  itself  to  be 
seen  to  advantage.  In  a  mental  picture  of  New 
York  and  Paris,  which  is  found  to  have  made  the 
stronger  impression, the  Sub-Treasury  in  Wall  Street, 
crowded  between  other  buildings  on  a  narrow  thor- 
oughfare; or  the  Madeleine  (also  Classic),  with  a 
broad  avenue  leading  up  to  it  ?  Press  the  Made- 
leine into  Wall  Street  and  put  the  little  Sub-Treasury 
on  a  site  like  that  of  the  Madeleine,  or  of  the  Pan- 
theon, and  the  effect  of  the  buildings  will  be  almost 
completely  changed.  In  a  sense,  then,  a  better 
site  means  a  better  building;  and  a  good  building 
nearly  wastes  its  beauty  when  crowded  between 
ugly  structures  on  a  narrow  street,  compared  to  the 
effect  it  might  exert. 

Having   assumed    the    grouping   of   the   public 


Brcbitcctural  Obltgartons  207 


edifices,  three  general  rules  may  be  laid  down  for 
placing  notable  structures  in  the  city  beautiful: 
(i)  Those  of  Classical  style  are  best  when  an  ex- 
tended view  is  possible.  They  should  close  a  vista 
as  do  the  Madeleine,  the  Pantheon,  the  Capitol  at 
Washington.  They  may  occupy  a  plaza.  (2)  The 
Gothic  is  easily  dwarfed  by  surrounding  space. 
The  cathedral  at  Milan  looks  small  in  its  broad 
square,  its  long  lines  shortened  by  the  flat  spaces; 
but  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  lifts  its  aspiring 
lines  impressively  when  seen  through  the  canon  of 
Wall  Street.  Many  of  the  best  examples  of  Euro- 
pean Gothic,  ecclesiastic  and  civic,  stand,  indeed, 
in  open  squares;  but  they  are  not  the  better  for 
that.  The  Gothic  can  be  crowded  if  it  so  hap- 
pen that  there  be  radiating  streets  from  which  to 
see  it.  Finally,  it  is  well  to  surround  with  small 
parks  the  structures  that  have  historical  interest. 
The  advantages  that  accrue  from  such  action  in- 
clude safety  from  fire,  the  granting  to  the  beholder 
of  the  opportunity  and  leisure  to  study  and  reflect, 
and  the  provision  of  pleasant  open  spaces.  Of 
course  this  will  not  always  be  possible,  but  like  the 
two  preceding  rules  it  is  a  good  one  to  keep  in 
mind.  Imagine  its  application  to  existing  con- 
ditions around  Faneuil  Hall.  If  artistically  neces- 
sary, a  structure  can  be  screened  with  trees. 

In  the  new  and  more  careful  study  of  the  science 
of  city  building,  the  requisites  of  site  are  treated 
with  increased  respect.  We  see  this  not  only  in 
those  topographical  changes  which  may  be  called 
Haussmannian,   and  of  which   there  are  so  many 


2o8         Umprovement  or  downs  aiiD  Cittes 


interesting  examples;  but  in  the  clearing  out  of 
rookeries  in  many  an  old-world  city  for  no  reason 
more  urgent  than  that  a  fine  structure  may  thus  be 
better  seen.  This  brings  us  to  the  third  architec- 
tural opportunity. 

Examples  are  the  demolitions  that  have  disclosed 
Westminster  Abbey  to  the  passengers  in  Whitehall; 
and  those  which  have  lately  revealed  the  architec- 
tural riches  that  are  crowded  into  the  centre  of  little 
Ghent,  where  a  park  has  taken  the  place  of  inter- 
vening structures.  In  both  these  cases  the  expense 
has  been  met  by  the  government;  but  in  the  latter 
instance  at  least  the  action  was  a  direct  result  of 
municipal  art  agitation.  If  it  be  worth  while  to  do 
this  many  years  after  construction,  it  were  surely 
well  in  the  case  of  very  notable  structures  to  plan 
for  space  at  the  start.  The  one  action  is  the  com- 
plement of  the  other.  When  the  site  of  an  import- 
ant public  structure  is  not  thus  conspicuous,  in  the 
sense  that  it  does  not  naturally  afford  a  long  view, 
something  ought  to  be  done  to  make  it  so.  Our 
record  in  this  regard  is  mainly  one  of  failures.  An 
instance  is  afforded  by  the  costly  City  Hall  at  Phila- 
delphia. A  site  was  given  to  it  which  would  have 
been  good  for  a  statue  or  fountain,  and  when, 
thirty  years  later,  the  taxpayers  had  poured  some 
$24,000,000  into  the  edifice  and  it  approached 
completion,  they  suffered  the  mortification  of  see- 
ing it  almost  screened  from  view  by  great  office 
buildings  erected  on  land  that  might  have  been 
cheaply  cleared  at  the  beginning. 

There  has  lately  appeared,  however,  an  interest- 


accbttectural  ©bllgatlons  209 


ing  architectural  development,  which  from  this 
point  of  view  is  full  of  promise.  This  is  the  cus- 
tom, to  which  the  artistic  success  of  the  World's 
Fair  gave  impetus  in  America,  of  planning  large 
construction  in  ioto,  although  only  a  small  portion 
may  be  at  once  secured  in  fact.  The  idea  is  to 
have  a  complete  harmonious  scheme,  so  that  there 
may  be  nothing  haphazard  and  conflicting  in  the 
successive  steps.  A  prominent  early  example  was 
afforded  by  the  international  competition  for  the 
general  design  for  the  University  of  California. 
The  scheme,  which  is  grandiose,  embraced  enough 
buildings  to  form  a  small  town.  The  competitors 
were  only  instructed  to  make  the  utmost  of  all 
peculiarities  of  site  and  to  see  to  it  that  relative 
values  should  be  certainly  preserved. '  Other,  East- 
ern, institutions,  as  Yale  and  Columbia  universities, 
have,    somewhat   more   modestly,    adopted  a  like 

^  The  conditions  of  this  contest  were  so  extraordinary  as  to 
deserve  record.  Mrs.  Phoebe  Hearst,  the  benefactress  of 
the  university,  proposed  to  erect  a  mining  buiUling  in  mem- 
ory of  her  husband.  While  considering  the  style  of  the 
building  and  looking  for  a  site,  the  lack  of  any  complete  and 
harmonious  plan  for  the  institution  was  keenly  realized  and 
it  was  resolved  to  secure  such  designs  by  international  com- 
petition in  order  that  the  institution's  future  growth  might  be 
toward  a  fixed  and  beautiful  ideal.  Mrs.  Hearst  offered 
$30,000  in  prizes  and  paid  all  the  expenses  of  the  committee. 
The  first  jury  met  in  Antwerp  and  the  wide  interest  in  the 
competition  was  shown  by  the  number  and  high  standing  of 
the  contestants.  .\n  international  jury  of  architects  exam- 
ined the  plans,  and  the  final  award,  made  at  a  meeting  of  the 
jury  in  San  Francisco,  gave  the  first  prize,  of  $10,000,  to  M. 
Henri  Jean  Emile  Benard,  of  France. 
14 


2IO         llmprovement  ot  ^owns  an&  Cities 


course  in  planning  for  extensions.  It  has  been 
adopted  also  in  the  planning  of  new  suburbs  and 
even  of  industrial  towns.  If  such  designing  be  not 
above  criticism,  it  yet  has  great  advantage  from  the 
standpoint  of  civic  aesthetics,  for  it  determines  the 
artistic  placing  of  buildings,  considered  singly  or 
in  conjunction. 

There  yet  remains  a  word  to  be  said  in  regard  to 
that  humbler  architecture  which  forms  so  large  a 
part  of  city  building,  which  sends  no  thrill  of  ad- 
miration through  the  observer,  but  which  covers  a 
wide  area  and  is  the  concrete  dream  of  "  home  " 
to  many  lowly  citizens.  It  has  been  the  custom 
for  municipal  art  to  avert  its  face  from  tenement 
districts,  as  if  it  had  no  call  thither  or  had  done 
enough  in  providing  clean  and  well  paved  streets 
and  frequent  playgrounds.  Even  these  it  secures 
principally  in  the  name  of  hygiene.  But  there  is 
no  part  of  the  city  where  municipal  art  has  higher 
call  than  to  the  tenement  district;  nor  is  there  any 
in  which  it  has  at  hand  more  elements  to  appropri- 
ate picturesqueness. 

For  consider  the  spectacular  characteristics  of 
the  tenement  population.  Here,  in  still  unassimi- 
lated  form,  is  that  cosmopolitanism  which  facility 
of  travel  has  made  so  marked  a  feature  of  modern 
cities.  It  has  been  estimated  that  in  Chicago  less 
than  one  fifth  of  the  population  is  native-born 
American.  There  are  many  more  Germans,  it  is 
said,  than  in  Munich,  as  many  Irish  as  in  Dublin, 
as    many    Scandinavians    as    in   Christiania,    more 


Brcbitcctural  Obligations  211 


Italians  than  in  Florence,  a  hundred  thousand  each 
of  Bohemians  and  Poles,  and  so  through  the  long 
list  of  nations.  The  cosmopolitanism  of  Chicago 
is  approached  in  all  large  cities,  notably  in  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Paris,  and  London.  But  what 
is  there  to  show  for  it  ?  Where  there  are  present 
such  powerful  factors  of  scenic  picturesqueness  and 
variety,  there  is  only  dull  monotony.  Russians 
and  Italians  live  in  the  same  sort  of  houses,  of  a 
style  that  is  foreign  to  both,  starving  their  own 
natural  yearnings  and  depriving  the  city  of  beauty. 
All  national  characteristics  are  crushed  to  one 
monotonous  level  of  architectural  utility,  until  a 
part  of  the  city  that  might  be  most  attractive  and 
interesting  becomes  the  dullest  of  all.  The  inevit- 
able foreign  "  colonies  "  of  big  cities  are  not  thus 
suppressed;  they  are  robbed  of  picturesqueness, 
color,  and  beauty.  There  is  no  "  little  Italy,"  no 
Poland,  no  France;  all  the  immigrants  are  playing 
a  part  and  playing  it  ill,  with  their  hearts  over  the 
sea. 

In  the  wealthier  portions  of  the  city  there  may  be 
imposing  plazas,  broad  avenues,  and  noble  sites 
crowned  with  worthy  structures;  public  architec- 
ture may  reach  a  high  level  of  good  taste  and  lux- 
ury, and  domestic  architecture  may  be  fittingly 
expressive  of  the  spirit  of  the  time,  revealing,  under 
professional  guidance,  at  once  variety  and  har- 
mony; but  until  the  spirit  of  aesthetic  renaissance 
descends  into  the  slums  and  gives  play  to  artistic 
impulse  there,  the  conquest  of  beauty  in  the  city 
will  be  still  incomplete.      It  will  have  gained  but 


212         UmprovemeiU  of  G^ovvns  anO  Cities 


half  a  victory.  It  will  have  lost  an  opportunity. 
It  may  have  missed  the  discovery,  or  the  inspira- 
tion, of  a  genius. 

The  social  and  philanthropic  effort  that  forms 
one  of  the  great  modern  movements  for  improve- 
ment in  urban  life  does  not  expend  the  whole  of  its 
architectural  energy  upon  tenements  or  public 
buildings.  Guided  by  the  gesthetic  impulse,  it  may 
do  much  in  this  way  for  city  beauty,  by  demanding 
that  in  public  structures,  institutions,  and  tene- 
ments there  be  regard  for  a  more  attractive,  as 
well  as  for  a  "  better,"  city.  But  when  it  turns  to 
those  minor  constructions  on  the  public  way,  which 
it  advocates  for  the  people's  happiness  or  comfort, 
it  will  be  loyal  to  the  same  high  principles. 

If  drinking  fountains,  for  man  or  beast,  band 
stands,  or  lavatories  have  the  conspicuousness  in 
site  of  a  public  statue,  their  artistic  character 
should  be  scrutinized  as  rigidly.  Utility  should 
not  excuse  ugliness.  With  appreciation  of  this 
comes  the  discovery  that  there  must  be  constant 
vigilance,  and  a  conscious  positive  effort  by  those 
of  artistic  taste  who  are  in  authority.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1899,  for  instance,  thirty-three  ice-water 
fountains  were  set  up  in  the  business  streets  of 
Boston  in  response  to  petitions.  If  these  had  been 
actually  hideous,  what  an  effect  they  would  have 
had  on  the  appearance  of  the  city.  Four  centuries 
ago  a  little  iron  canopy  was  placed  over  the  well 
in  front  of  the  cathedral  at  Antwerp,  and  people 
still  visit  it  and  marvel  at  its  beauty. 


Brcbitectural  ©bltgations  213 


In  Paris  these  minor  erections,  put  up  by  the 
municipality,  are  required,  as  we  have  seen  in  an- 
other chapter,  to  conform  to  an  approved  standard; 
while  the  lavatories,  which  are  a  concession,  are 
required  not  only  to  be  made  of  a  certain  material 
and  size,  but  to  present  "  in  elevation  a  decorative 
appearance  in  harmony  with  their  situation."  In 
American  cities  which  have  municipal  art  commis- 
sions the  power  to  veto  a  bad  design  is  given  to  the 
commission.  In  cases  where  there  are  municipal  art 
societies  these  sometimes  conduct  competitions  for 
the  designs  of  such  public  erections.  L'CEuvre 
does  this  in  Belgium,  and  in  London  the  Metropoli- 
tan Public  Gardens  Association  has  conducted  a 
competition  for  artistic  designs  for  drinking  foun- 
tains, holding  such  erections  to  be  a  necessity  in  its 
playgrounds.  Its  awards  were  made  by  Alma- 
Tadema.  Architectural  clubs  on  either  side  of 
the  ocean  have  not  considered  the  discussion  of 
plans  for  street  utilities  as  beneath  their  dignity; 
an  interesting  design  has  been  prepared  for  con- 
centrating many  conveniences  in  a  single  structure; 
and  it  looks  as  though  a  new  and  professional 
interest  in  civic  art  would  finally  put  a  proper  stamp 
on  these  erections. 

In  going  over  the  important  points  at  which 
architectural  effort  touches  city  beauty,  it  is  clear 
that  the  gesthetic  phase  of  such  philanthropic  activ- 
ity as  takes  structural  form  can  come  to  little,  if  its 
impulse  be  not  natural  and  compelling.  There 
must  be  twin  motives:  To  make  what  is  the  world 


214         Umprcvemcnt  of  ^owns  aiiD  Cities 


of  many  citizens  both  fairer  and  better.  Incident- 
ally, neither  purpose  can  approach  complete  fulfil- 
ment without  the  other's  aid.  But  the  fact  brings 
us  back  to  our  first  assertion,  that  architectural 
achievements,  if  they  are  worth  anything  of  them- 
selves, are  to  be  valued  for  the  spirit  they  reveal, 
that  without  a  public  and  unselfish  aspiration  we 
cannot  hope  for  much,  since  the  spirit  of  the  time 
surely  reveals  itself  in  what  is  built.  To  cultivate 
the  popular  taste,  to  educate  the  people  and  inspire 
them  with  an  intelligent  and  enthusiastic  desire  for 
the  architectural  glory  of  their  city,  that  is  the  long 
first  step.  Then  will  follow  the  careful  placing  of 
buildings,  worthy  new  construction,  the  cherishing 
of  the  best  of  the  past — all  the  points  where  archi- 
tectural effort  should  touch  city  beauty.  Walter 
Crane,  asking  what  Florence  would  be  without  the 
noble  group  that  is  formed  by  the  tower  of  the  Sig- 
noria,  Giotto's  Tower,  and  the  Duomo,  has  said: 
"  When  we  think  of  Florence  we  think  of  this  cen- 
tral group  of  buildings  by  which,  through  all 
changes,  it  maintains  its  wonderful  character  and 
beauty  among  the  cities  of  the  world."  Each  day 
while  Giotto's  Tower  was  rising,  Dante  used  to 
bring  a  stool  into  the  square  and  sit  before  it,  that  he 
might  watch  the  perfect  beauty  of  the  growing  pile; 
and  we  should  recall  the  command  which  the  people 
of  Florence  gave  to  the  constructors  of  their  Duomo. 
The  burden  of  the  obligation  thus  to  instruct 
and  inspire  rests  with  the  architects.  Each  large 
city  has  its  club  of  them  and  this  becomes,  in  a 
happy  coupling  of  duty  to  the  city  with  a  strong 


arcbitectural  ©bltgations  215 


self-interest,  the  centre  of  such  activity.  Loyal  to 
its  artistic  standard,  the  club  will  find  one  depart- 
ment of  effort  in  fearless  criticism.  It  finds  another 
in  exhibitions,  discussions,  and  prize  awards. 
When  New  York  architects  meet  to  discuss  ap- 
proaches to  new  bridges  and  the  embellishment  of 
the  water-front,  when  Boston  architects  save  the 
Bulfinch  fayade  of  the  State  House,  Cleveland  and 
Chicago  architects  arouse  popular  interest  in  the 
grouping  of  public  buildings,  the  Milwaukee  Archi- 
tectural Club  demands  that  a  conspicuous  new 
bridge  should  be  made  a  civic  ornament,  and  the 
Pittsburg  club  invites  competitive  plans  for  the 
architectural  improvement  of  a  designated  portion 
of  the  city — when  these  city  clubs  combine  in  na- 
tional organizations  which  urge  town  improvement 
and  appoint  a  committee  on  that  subject,  it  is  plain 
that  the  opportunity  is  not  overlooked  and  that 
architects  are  taking  the  prominent  place  they 
should  in  the  movement  for  civic  renaissance. 

Other  associations,  however,  can  aid.  Muni- 
cipal art  societies  see  to  the  interior  decoration 
of  public  structures;  in  Albany  the  local  Camera 
Club  has  devoted  some  attention  to  photographing 
buildings,  single  and  in  groups;  in  any  city  the 
local  historical  society  can  exert  an  influence  to 
preserve  the  architectural  legacies  of  the  past;  and 
in  all  new  construction  for  associations,  business 
houses,  or  individuals,  employers  can  require  archi- 
tects to  be  loyal  first  to  the  ideal  of  city  beauty. 
They  will  best  serve  themselves  when  building  who 
best  serve  their  city. 


CHAPTER    XIII 


THE    FUNCTION    AND    PLACING    OF    SCULPTURE 


WE  have  said  that  the  three  great  groups  of 
altruistic  effort,  designed  respectively  to 
make  men  wiser,  their  surroundings  better,  their 
outlook  fairer,  merge  into  one  another  until  each 
is  an  ally  of  the  others.  The  closeness  of  the  con- 
nection between  philanthropic  and  aesthetic  effort 
has  been  seen;  there  is  connection  not  less  obvious 
between  the  aesthetic  and  the  educational. 

Of  course,  in  a  general  way,  larger  information, 
broader  culture,  familiarity  with  the  best  achieve- 
ments of  past  and  present  in  the  building  of  beau- 
tiful cities  and  towns,  tend  to  raise  the  individual 
ideal  and  so  to  create  a  popular  demand  that  will 
be  followed  by  improvement.  But  the  alliance  is 
more  specific  and  direct  than  this.  When  the  in- 
struction is  actually  in  art,  in  its  history,  its  prin- 
ciples, its  technique;  or  when  the  instruction  is 
offered  through  objects  of  public  art,  as  statues, 
there  is  no  doubting  the  positive  aesthetic  influence 
of  educational  effort.  Municipal  art  recognizes  at 
once  a  powerful  ally. 

216 


TLbc  ifimctlon  anO  placing  of  Sculpture     217 


In  taking  up,  therefore,  that  part  of  the  move- 
ment which  is  traceable  to  the  educational  effort, 
we  may  consider,  first,  the  function  of  sculpture  in 
the  beautiful  city;  and  then  the  means  and  influ- 
ence of  art  education. 

That  public  sculpture  necessarily  is,  in  one  way 
or  another,  educational,  will  not  be,  perhaps,  en- 
tirely clear  at  once.  But  when  to  the  long  list  of 
commemorative  and  memorial  statues  there  is 
added  a  realization  that  ideas  are  embodied  in  all 
sculptured  figures,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  statues 
Oi  a  city  are  a  record  not  only  of  its  history  but  of 
its  spirit,  not  only  of  its  achievements,  but  of  its 
ideals  and  aims.  The  lion  of  Venice,  tlie  wolf  of 
Siena,  the  lily  of  Florence,  were  sculptured  in 
many  public  places  to  remind  the  people  at  their 
daily  tasks  of  the  sovereign  State  and  to  keep  warm 
their  civic  pride.  In  Venice,  over  the  entrance  to 
the  palace  of  the  Doges,  two  sculptured  figures 
stand  out  so  plainly  that  none  wlio  passes  beneath 
the  gate  can  fail  to  note  them.  One  is  the  lion  of 
St.  Mark,  the  other  is  the  Doge  kneeling  before  it, 
in  constantly  pertinent  reminder  that  the  sovereign 
is  servant,  not  master,  of  the  State.  Again,  in 
Florence,  when  the  people  had  risen  against  the 
Medici,  had  established  a  republic,  and  the  French 
troops  went  away  carrying  all  the  treasures  of  art 
they  could,  two  great  statues  were  retained  by  the 
Florentines.  These  were,  significantly,  Donatel- 
\o's  David,  which  obviously  taught  a  lesson;  and 
his  group  of  yudilh  and  Holofernes.     The  people 


2i8         llmprovemcnt  ot  ^ovvns  aiiD  Cities 


placed  the  latter,  as  representing  the  spirit  of  resist- 
ance to  tyranny,  in  the  Loggia  dei  Lanzi,  where  all 
might  see  it,  and  on  the  base  they  carved  these 
words,  "  Erected  by  the  citizens  as  an  example  for 
the  public  good." 

Our  own  statues  of  great  men,  the  inscription  of 
their  noblest  words  and  highest  sentiments  on  the 
pedestals,  and  our  memorials  of  great  achievements 
are  an  unconscious  effort  in  a  like  direction.  When, 
upon  the  base  of  the  great  column  to  Nelson  in 
Trafalgar  Square,  London,  there  is  shown  in  relief 
the  scene  in  which  Nelson,  wounded,  declines  to 
be  assisted  out  of  turn  by  the  surgeon  who  is  tend- 
ing a  common  sailor,  and  on  another  side  his  dying 
command,  "  England  expects  every  man  to  do  his 
duty";  when,  on  the  tomb  of  General  Grant,  in 
New  York,  the  conspicuous  words  are  "  Let  us 
have  peace";  and  the  inscription  on  the  Lincoln 
statue  is  the  famous  epitaph,  "  With  malice  toward 
none;  with  charity  for  all";  when,  to  the  beauty 
of  the  Shaw  Memorial,  in  Boston,  there  is  added 
the  phrase,  "  He  leaves  all  things  that  he  may 
serve  the  Republic,"  it  is  clear  that  something  else 
than  love  of  war  and  thirst  of  blood  is  taught  even 
in  sculpture  that  is  of  martial  inspiration.  Instruc- 
tion in  morals  and  civics  is  added  to  the  lessons  in 
history. 

Then  there  is,  to-day  also,  as  in  ancient  times, 
the  symbolical  and  ideal  sculpture  that  has  like 
purpose.  The  French  especially  excel  in  this. 
Such  is  the  Column  of  July  in  Paris,  with  the  fig- 
ures of  Justice,   the    Constitution,    Strength,   and 


Zbc  Jfiinction  anO  iplacing  of  Sculpture     aig 


Freedom,  "  to  the  glory  of  the  French  citizens  who 
armed  themselves  and  fought  in  defense  of  tlie 
public  liberty";  or  the  group  in  the  Place  de  la 
Nation  that  represents  the  Triumph  of  the  Re- 
public ;  or  the  Statue  of  Liberty  in  the  harbor  of 
New  York. 

In  all  this,  alike  in  ancient  and  modern  times, 
there  is  both  educational  and  aesthetic  function. 
In  times  or  places  where  the  people  are  unlettered; 
or  in  a  land  where  the  urban  population  is  quite 
largely  made  up  of  foreigners,  such  works,  which 
he  who  runs  may  read,  are  an  educational  factor 
that  is  not  to  be  despised.  They  make  powerfully 
and  clearly  for  the  city  that  is  beautiful  not  merely 
in  appearance,  but  in  that  higher  sense  of  one  that 
demands  the  devotion,  loyalty,  and  pride  of  its 
citizens.  History's  preservation  is  not,  then,  the 
only  role  of  public  sculpture.  In  the  accumulating 
influence  of  the  long  reaches  of  time,  it  may  be 
expected  to  make  as  well  as  to  record  history. 

Yet  the  latter  function  is  very  important.  Now 
and  again  city  sculpture  is  made  use  of  for  the 
single  purpose  of  providing  a  record  of  facts.  But, 
beginning  with  the  memorial  tablets  that,  increas- 
ingly, mark  historic  sites,  the  historical  sculpture 
rises  gradually  to  greater  assertiveness,  dignity, 
and  self-conscious  artistic  effort,  until,  at  last,  it 
blends  inevitably  and  indistinguishably  into  that 
other,  inspiring  beholders  with  high  ideals  and  mak- 
ing history  by  urging  the  emulation  of  deeds  of 
self-sacrifice  and  patriotism. 

The  primary  purpose   of    recording   history  ex- 


220         f  mprovement  of  Q;ovvn0  and  Ctties 


presses  itself  in  many  ways.  It  appears  in  the 
portrait  busts  of  heroes,  in  commemorative  and  ideal 
and  symbolical  statues,  in  preserving  and  marking 
historic  scenes,  in  splendid  erections  over  the 
graves  of  the  great  of  the  world,  in  the  adornment 
of  public  buildings  with  sculptured  records,  in  the 
construction  of  memorial  entrances  to  parks,  in 
street  exedras,  in  such  edifices  as  the  Valhalla  of 
Germany  at  Regensburg,  or  the  Hall  of  Fame  on 
the  University  Heights,  New  York — sculpture  run- 
ning here  into  architecture.  Or  it  appears  with 
the  like  intent  in  lowlier  form,  as  in  the  recently 
completed  commemorative  cloister  of  "the  Post- 
men's Park,"  in  London,  where  the  heroism  of  the 
obscure  has  record. 

And  then,  again,  there  is  some,  but  not  very 
much,  civic  sculpture  that  has  no  conscious  educa- 
tional purpose.  In  pure  love  of  beauty,  this  would 
give  substance  to  an  artist's  fancy,  and  put  dancing 
nymph  or  gentle  form  amid  the  city's  uproar  and 
confusion.  Or,  again,  in  mingling  of  aesthetic  and 
educational  motives,  we  find  a  great  event  so  thrill- 
ing a  people  or  a  conqueror  that  magnificent  con- 
struction alone  can  satisfy.  Then  rises,  for  instance, 
the  Arc  de  Triomphe,  in  Paris;  or  the  Washington 
Arch,  in  New  York — at  first  a  temporary  structure, 
so  beautiful  that  the  people  perpetuated  it  in  mar- 
ble, as  some  have  subsequently  wished  to  build 
the  Naval  Arch;  or  such  erections  as  the  great 
adornment  proposed  in  Detroit  for  the  river  park. 
Belle  Isle,  in  commemoration  of  the  city's  bi- 
centenary. 


XLbe  jfuiiction  anO  placing  of  Sculptuie     221 


The  possible  beautifying  effect  of  all  this  on  town 
or  city  demands  no  explanation  or  apology,  for  the 
function  of  public  sculpture  is  one  of  splendor.  It 
is  not  merely  (i)  to  instruct,  by  embodying  ideals 
and  principles  in  allegory,  symbolism,  or  historical 
scenes;  not  merely  (2)  to  record  history;  not  merely 
(3)  to  be  decorative;  nor  (4)  in  notable  mingling 
of  these  functions  to  rise  to  splendid  achievements, 
differing  in  degree  rather  than  in  kind  from  the 
foregoing.  It  is  all  of  these  things  together,  is 
each  magnificently;  and  if  it  be  worthy  of  oppor- 
tunity and  subject,  how  it  may  enhance  the  city's 
dignity  and  beauty,  emphasize  its  higher  life,  as 
with  imperishable  material  it  records  in  immortal 
beauty  undying  thoughts  and  deeds! 

The  condition  suggests,  therefore,  the  one  great 
requisite  to  render  public  sculpture  an  aid  to 
municipal  art,  once  its  high  function  be  grasped. 
This  is  fidelity  to  a  noble  standard  of  criticism — 
not  merely  the  existence  of  such  a  standard,  but 
the  authority  to  enforce  its  ruling,  to  demand  that 
the  means  be  worthy  of  the  end.  We  have  seen 
that  very  little  public  sculpture  is  purely  decorative. 
"  Art  for  art's  sake  "  is  not  the  motto  of  those  who 
dress  our  streets  with  the  sculptor's  bronze  or  stone, 
and  because  their  attention  is  so  distracted  by  other 
purposes,  educational  or  commemorative,  we  have 
sometimes  sad  violations  of  art  and  taste. 

As  clearly,  it  will  not  do  to  leave  the  matter  to 
the  public.  If  the  attention  of  sculptors  and 
donors  be  distracted  by  other  considerations  than 


222         flmprovcment  ot  Cown^  anD  Cities 


those  of  art,  the  people  may  not  be  depended 
upon  to  think  with  single  purpose  of  beauty.  With 
similarly  scattered  interest  they  welcome  to  their 
streets  a  "  portrait  statuary,"  hesitating  at  no  bodily 
or  tailoring  peculiarities,  and  sparing  no  thought 
for  fitness  to  surroundings,  if  only  a  name  be  thus 
commemorated,  a  bit  of  history  recorded,  or  a 
lesson  taught.  And  yet  all  this  can  be  done  artis- 
tically, enhancing  the  beauty  of  the  street.  But 
this  public  sculpture,  because  it  has  an  educa- 
tional function,  ought  to  conform  with  the  highest 
artistic  standard  of  the  community,  not  just  with 
its  average.  If  the  people,  with  undivided  atten- 
tion, were  true  to  their  own  art  ideals  in  the  judg- 
ment of  sculpture — even  yet  the  noblest  results 
would  not  be  gained  were  the  matter  left  to  them. 
And  finally,  what  degree  of  unity  and  authority 
could  the  popular  opinion  have  ?  Granted  that  in 
most  cities  the  multiplication  of  public  statues  has 
reached  a  stage  at  which  wholesome  discrimination 
is  necessary,  would  the  people  agree,  offer  it,  and 
enforce  their  views  ? 

Let  us  put  ourselves  at  once  above  that  provin- 
cialism which  fancies  that  because  a  thing  is  sculp- 
ture it  is  art,  and  hence  worthy  of  honor;  or  that 
because  a  thing  is  a  gift  it  must  be  accepted.  Let 
us  picture  the  beautiful  parks  and  streets  which 
fidelity  to  preceding  steps  in  town  and  city  building 
could  have  secured  for  us,  and,  recognizing  the  high 
function  of  public  sculpture,  see  how  we  can  turn 
it  to  account.  How  may  we  make  it  really  decora- 
tive, really  inspiring  ? 


tlbe  jfunctlon  anO  placiiig  ot  Sculpture 


We  shall  find  prerequisites  in  the  highest  stand- 
ards of  criticism  and  the  authority  to  enforce  their 
ruling.  If  the  people,  the  working  sculptors,  and 
the  donors  are  not  to  be  trusted,  we  must  turn  to 
some  outside  source.  To  have  authority  this  must 
be  official.  It  may  be  a  part  of  the  regular  ad- 
ministration or  an  art  commission. 

Paris  makes  it  the  former.  With  the  high  average 
of  her  popular  appreciation  and  judgment  of  art, 
with  the  jealous  guardianship  of  her  beauty  by  the 
people,  and  with  her  administrative  system  of  call- 
ing to  advise  her  the  best  minds  and  finest  sensibili- 
ties among  her  citizens,  she  does  this  successfully. 
Ostensibly  city  officials  pass  on  the  works  of  sculp- 
ture which  are  offered  to  the  city,  decide  on  the 
purchases  to  be  made  from  the  annual  grants  for 
art,  or  on  the  orders  to  be  given;  but  in  reality  the 
judgment  of  the  officials  rests  on  the  verdict  of  the 
artists  summoned  in  consultation.  Her  method 
differs  little  in  fact  from  the  American  system.  If 
she  have  not  one  art  commission,  it  is  not  because 
she  has  not  any  but  because  she  has  several. 

Cities  in  the  United  States  have  wisely  feared, 
when  waking  conscientiously  to  artistic  aspirations, 
to  leave  to  their  office-holders  the  determination  of 
what  is  fittingly  beautiful  and  artistic  in  public 
sculpture.  Bitter  experience  has  taught  that  the 
taste  of  politicians  is  even  less  to  be  trusted  in  this 
matter  than  is  that  of  the  public,  of  the  sculptors, 
or  of  the  donors.  Thus  the  demand  has  arisen  for 
art  commissions.  With  the  demand  there  has  been 
recognition  of  their  danger.      Even  yet  initiative 


224         Improvement  of  tlowns  anD  Cities 


power  is  rarely  given  them;  and  through  fear  that 
art,  which  of  all  things  must  be  free,  may  be  too 
much  trammelled  by  the  individual  prepossessions 
of  a  small  commission,  it  is  required  that  the  com- 
missioners' judgment  be  based  on  what  are  acknowl- 
edged as  art's  universal  principles.  And  the  choice 
of  members  for  the  commission  is  not  left  to  the 
caprice  of  an  appointive  power,  which  is  nominally 
the  mayor.  That  it  may  be  politically  free  and 
artistically  broad,  a  majority  are  made  members  by 
virtue  of  definite  functions  which  they  already  exer- 
cise in  the  community. 

Thus  the  Art  Commission  which  was  created  by 
the  charter  of  Greater  New  York  consists  of  ten 
members.  Of  these,  four  are  ex-officio,  and  three 
others  must  be,  respectively,  a  painter,  a  sculptor, 
and  an  architect  chosen  by  the  Mayor  from  a  list 
prepared  by  the  Fine  Arts  Federation.  The  ex- 
officio  members  are  the  Mayor  himself,  the  President 
of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  the  President 
of  the  Public  Library,  and  the  President  of  the 
Brooklyn  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  The 
three  remaining  members  shall  not  belong  to  any 
profession  of  fine  arts,  but  shall  be  selected  from  a 
list  prepared  by  the  Fine  Arts  Federation.  In 
brief,  the  commission  is  safeguarded  from  political 
prostitution.  At  the  same  time,  since  no  more  than 
three  of  its  ten  members  need  be,  and  no  more  than 
four  or  five  are  ever  likely  to  be,  members  of  a  pro- 
fession of  the  fine  arts,  but  shall  be  men  of  taste 
and  culture,  it  is  defended  from  artistic  jealousy 
and  bigotry.      It  is  designed  to  represent  the  best 


Zbe  ^Function  anO  BMacing  of  Sculpture     225 


and  broadest  aesthetic  sense  of  the  community.  In 
Boston,  where  the  first  commission  of  this  sort  was 
appointed,  in  Baltimore,  Chicago,  and  other  cities 
that  have  adopted  them  more  recently,  a  similar 
care  has  been  taken. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  art  commissions 
pass  only  upon  public  sculpture.  To  quote  from 
the  charter  of  Greater  New  York  "  no  work  of  art 
shall  become  the  property  of  the  city  of  New  York 
by  purchase,  gift,  or  otherwise,  unless  such  work 
of  art,  or  design  of  the  same,  together  with  a  state- 
m.ent  of  proposed  location  "  be  first  "  submitted  to 
and  approved  by  the  commission  " — nor  can  it, 
until  after  that,  be  erected  or  have  place  on  any 
public  property.  Yet,  since  sculpture  is  still  the 
most  frequent  form  of  public  art  in  cities,  it  is  that 
with  which  the  commissions  have  had  most  to  do.^ 
They  offer,  then,  that  elevated  standard  of  authorita- 
tive criticism  which  cities  sorely  want  when  deter- 
mining the  acceptance  and  location  of  such  works. 
They  dignify  art  in  insisting  that  it  shall  be  worthy 
of  itself  and  of  the  town,  keeping  before  the  public 
mind  and  emphasizing  the  art  ideal  in  the  considera- 
tion of  public  sculpture's  many-sided  claims.  And 
this  is  essential  to  city  beauty,  for  not  more  money, 
but  more  art,  is  what  is  generally  wanted. 

There  is  one  other  way  in  which  good  results 
can  be  made  probable,  if  not  absolutely  assured, 
in  public  sculpture.  This  is  by  competitions  and 
the  public-spirited  co-operation  of  art  societies 
in    making  them  successful.     In  Washington,  for 

1  Recent    inclusion     of    architecture   has    transferred    the 

emphasis. 
15 


226  "ffrnprovement  of  Zovcns  anD  Cities 


instance,  where  there  was  no  art  commission  in  1900, 
a  monument  was  to  be  erected  in  honor  of  Samuel 
Hahnemann.  Prizes  were  offered  and  sixty  sculp- 
tors in  America  and  Europe  were  invited  to  submit 
models,  the  National  Sculpture  Society  giving  its 
advice  and  assistance  in  making  the  award.  This 
society  had  acted  such  a  part  many  times  before. 
It  has  an  advisory  committee  which,  "  upon  formal 
request  of  any  National,  State,  or  Municipal  au- 
thority, or  any  committee  on  public  monuments 
anywhere  in  the  United  States,"  will  appoint  a 
committee  to  "  aid  in  choosing  models  for  proposed 
monuments  or  to  decide  on  the  artistic  merits  of 
any  proposed  design  or  finished  statue  or  monu- 
ment." This  makes  expert  critical  judgment  avail- 
able where  there  is  no  art  commission,  and  one  of 
the  reports  of  the  society  says  that  "  the  most  im- 
portant work  which  has  fallen  to  it"  has  been  in 
an  advisory  capacity.  Its  decisions  are  persua- 
sive because  of  the  confidence  in  their  integrity 
and  accuracy.  In  a  smaller  and  somewhat  more 
precarious  way  the  like  public-spirited  criticism 
may  be  offered  by  local  art  societies,  as  it  has  been 
successfully  by  the  Art  Association  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, for  example. 

It  is  not  enough  that  sculpture  of  worthy  purpose 
be  worthily  executed.  A  good  monument  or  statue 
is  like  a  good  building  in  that,  to  realize  its  full 
efficiency,  it  must  have  a  fitting  site.  On  the 
choice  of  its  location  depends  its  connection  with 
city  beauty.     The  street  has  power  to  make  or  mar 


Zbc  ^function  anO  iplactng  of  Sculpture     227 


the  statue;  statues  have  power  almost  to  make  or 
mar  the  street,  and  they  may  enhance  or  ruin  the 
beauty  of  a  park.  In  spite  of  such  possibilities  for 
good  or  evil,  popular  ideas  on  the  location  of  civic 
sculpture  are  singularly  vague,  and  the  concrete 
problems  presented  by  definite  cases  have  been 
strangely  neglected. 

There  are  a  few  simple  principles.  Speaking 
broadly,  the  place  for  the  ideal  is  among  the  idyllic 
and  reflection-inviting  scenes  of  the  park.  Here, 
also,  amid  surroundings  of  park  foliage,  and  not 
in  the  street,  should  be  the  sculptured  wild  animal. 
Yet  in  a  park  that  makes  pretense  to  natural  treat- 
ment sculpture  is  to  be  used  sparingly  and  with 
caution.  It  is  well  to  consider,  then,  the  advan- 
tages of  public  buildings,  of  bridges,  of  any 
important  architectural  structure,  for  purely  deco- 
rative work.  The  rare  colossal  civic  monument 
should  have  a  commanding  site,  even  though  it  be 
in  the  environs  —  as  with  the  copy  of  Michael  An- 
gelo's  Daz'i'd  overlooking  Florence.  In  the  formal- 
ism of  a  city's  little  "  squares  "  the  ornamental 
fountain  may  be,  as  we  have  seen,  an  appropriate 
and  prominent  feature,  and  occasionally,  where 
diagonal  avenues  touch,  it  may  fill  a  narrow  corner 
with  advantage.  On  the  plazas  and  bridges,  in  the 
broader  spaces  of  the  busy  haunts  of  men,  in  con- 
spicuous positions  where  they  are  not  dwarfed  by 
their  surroundings  but  can  dominate  the  view  and 
be  seen  of  many,  should  be  the  monuments  of  great 
citizens,  of  national  heroes,  the  sculpture  that  shall 
thrill  beholders  with  civic  pride  and  high  resolve. 


228         ifmprorcmcnt  of  ^owns  anO  Cities 


Very  rarely  indeed  should  the  street  itself  be  tres- 
passed upon,  and  then  mainly  in  a  pleasant  and 
shaded  spot  where  an  exedra  can  reasonably  invite 
to  rest  and  thought.  The  group  or  statue  of  the 
"  square  "  and  plaza  can  dominate  the  street,  can 
close  its  vista,  can  be  of  it  and  yet  not  upon  it. 

Simple  and  apparently  self-suggestive  as  are 
these  rules,  practice  has  repeatedly  ignored  them. 
The  Nelson  Column  in  Trafalgar  Square,  the  Hunt 
Memorial  against  the  wall  of  Central  Park,  the 
Fontaine  St.  Michel  in  the  angle  of  two  streets,  are 
international  and  familiar  samples  of  well-placed 
sculpture.  From  the  Columbus  in  the  square 
which  is  the  principal  entrance  of  Genoa  to  the 
Policeman  which  keeps  guard  somewhat  ungrace- 
fully in  Haymarket  Square,  Chicago,'  the  instances 
might  be  multiplied  of  statues  well  placed  for 
special  as  well  as  general  reasons.  But  still  there 
would  remain  a  long  catalogue  of  misplaced  city 
sculpture. 

In  Philadelphia  the  problem  presented  to  com- 
petitors for  a  travelling  scholarship  in  architecture 
in  1900  was  to  design  a  worthy  entrance  to  Fair- 
mount  Park  at  Green  Street.  Every  one  of  the 
competitors  found  it  necessary,  when  drawing 
plans,  to  shift  the  position  of  the  Washington 
Monument.  Here  was  a  case,  then,  in  which  a 
statue  had  been  placed  with  no  thought  of  future 
changes  and  improvements,  with  no  consideration 
of  landscape  treatment,  at  one  of  the  principal  ap- 
proaches to  the  park.      In   New  York  the  good 

'  Removed,  since  this  was  written,  to  one  of  the  parks. 


^bc  function  anO  placing  of  Sculpture     229 


equestrian  statue  of  Washington  in  Union  Square 
is  so  dwarfed  by  its  surroundings  that  its  merit  is 
lost  on  the  casual  passer.  In  this  case  the  primary 
principle,  the  theory,  of  city  statue  placing  was  in- 
deed respected;  but  there  was  not  regard  for 
modifying  circumstances. 

These  may  be  important.  There  are  few  statues 
through  all  the  rules  which  are  not  better  for  a 
background  of  verdure.  Now  and  then,  in  a  tree- 
less plaza,  against  a  background  of  gray  buildings 
that  are  not  too  liigh  or  inharmonious,  a  bit  of 
sculpture  can  be  safely  set  to  take  its  place  as  a 
detail  in  a  steel  engraving.  But  the  effect  will  be 
cold  and  out  of  touch  with  the  lives  of  men,  and 
if  there  be  any  trees  or  grass  it  were  wiser  to  place 
the  statue  where  they  can  strengthen  its  outline 
better  than  do  the  walls,  and  give  warmth  to  it. 
Another  detail  which  should  also  be  considered  is 
whether  the  statue  can  bear  to  be  placed  against  a 
brilliant  sky  that  must  throw  all  except  the  outline- 
modelling  into  shadow.  It  is  that  fact  which  often 
makes  the  proximity  of  a  building,  or  a  background 
of  trees,  advisable. 

Violations  of  taste  in  placing  public  sculpture 
often  arise,  however,  through  a  disregard  of  the 
first  general  principles.  A  conspicuous  site  is 
wanted,  let  us  say, —  to  hide  a  true  story  with  an 
air  of  fable, —  for  a  large  equestrian  statue  of  a  sol- 
dier. On  the  principal  drive  or  walk  of  the  park 
there  is  a  certain  prominent  place  and  this  is  de- 
manded, without  a  thought  of  lack  of  harmony 
with  surroundings,  without  regard  for  the  intrusion 


230        iFmprovcment  ot  ^owns  anD  Cities 


upon  lovely  vistas  and  the  screening  of  the  per- 
spective with  bronze  and  granite.  The  statue  does 
not  belong  there;  it  will  not  adorn,  but  will  injure, 
the  view;  there  is  no  recommendation  for  the  site 
save  that  of  prominence. 

A  time  when  red  iron  deer  stood  on  dried-up 
lawns  and  tin  swans  swam  in  fountains  is  not  so 
remote  that  many  persons  do  not  still  believe  that 
any  effigy  in  stone  or  bronze  must  be  a  masterpiece 
benefiting  the  prospect  of  which  it  forms  a  part. 
Because  of  this,  and  of  the  selfishness  of  some  who 
know  better,  few  popular  parks  in  large  cities  have 
not  numerous  statues  that  ought  never  to  have  gone 
to  them.  So  serious  is  the  evil  in  Central  Park, 
New  York,  that  in  the  spring  of  1900  the  Park  Board 
adopted  resolutions  suggesting  means  to  secure  re- 
movsl  of  some  of  the  unfortunate  sculpture  now  in 
place,  and  rules  for  guidance  in  the  future.  These 
may  be  reproduced  as  of  interest  and  valuable 
suggestion: 

No  statue,  bust,  memorial,  or  memorial  building, 
of  any  description  shall  be  erected  in  the  parks  of 
the  city  of  New  York  in  any  part  of  a  park  where 
che  scenery  is  of  a  predominating  natural  character. 

Statues  shall  be  placed  only  as  adjuncts  to  build- 
ings, bridges,  viaducts,  or  other  structural  work 
purely  artificial  in  their  nature,  and  in  parks  laid 
out  in  the  architectural  style,  when  required  to 
heighten  and  beautify  the  effect  of  the  scenery. 

Statues  of  great  artistic  beauty  only  and  appro- 
priate in  size  may  be  placed  in  any  of  the  small 
parks  at  the  intersection  of  two  or  more  avenues  ; 
such  statues  shall,  however,  be  of  great  National, 
Civic,  or  universal  interest  in  order  to  be  accepted. 


^be  ^function  aiiD  {placing  of  Sculpture     231 


No  existing  natural  scenery,  no  rock,  woodland, 
lawn,  or  existing  drive  shall  be  destroyed  or  altered 
in  order  to  accommodate  any  statuary  or  memorial, 
and  such  statuary  or  memorial  shall  be  secondary 
in  importance  to  the  natural  features  which  must 
I^revail  in  a  park. 

No  such  statuary,  building,  or  structure,  even  if 
in  itself  satisfactory  as  a  work  of  art,  shall  be  ac- 
cepted unless  it  will  help  to  heighten  or  offset  the 
beauty  of  the  landscape,  and  unless  a  satisfactory 
and  appropriate  site  shall  be  found  in  conformity 
with  previous  rules. 

Statuary  and  structures  already  in  the  parks,  if 
not  placed  in  conformity  with  the  previous  rules, 
may,  if  condemned  by  the  Art  Commission,  be 
removed  by  the  Commissioner  of  Parks. 

The  regulations,  as  a  set  of  working  rules,  are 
not  above  criticism  ;  but  they  serve  as  a  formal 
enunciation  of  some  of  the  principles  here  set  forth 
and  which  had  seemed  too  obvious  to  require  the 
official  endorsement  of  an  order.  The  difficulty 
which  the  Park  Board  has  had,  after  the  adoption 
of  the  rules,  in  securing  a  removal  of  any  accepted 
work,  should  be  an  appeal  for  foresight  and  dis- 
cretion in  choosing  sites.  If  it  be  hard  to  be  wise 
at  first  without  giving  offense,  it  is  at  least  as  hard 
to  remedy  an  error  once  committed. 

Perhaps  the  best  course  for  town  or  city  to  adopt, 
though  this  is  yet  to  be  done,  is  the  designation  of 
the  sites  it  cares  to  have  adorned  with  sculpture, 
and  then,  when  a  project  for  a  statue  or  monu- 
ment arises,  the  allotment  of  a  site  to  that  pur- 
pose before  the  design  is  drawn.  The  sculptor 
would  make  his  model  conform  with  the  location, 


232         Ifmprovemcnt  of  tTowns  anD  Cities 


knowing  his  background  and  sky-line,  and  the  fit 
ness  thus  secured  would  be  no  slight  consideration. 
There  would  be  the  advantage  also  that  an  allot- 
ment of  sites  to  ideas,  instead  of  to  finished  work, 
would  give  offense  less  often  to  donor  or  to  artist 
than  the  present  method  of  wrangling  over  fitness 
and  harmony  when  the  work  is  finished. 

Incidentally,  a  designation  of  sites  available  for 
public  sculpture  would  admit  of  a  systematic  de- 
velopment and  treatment  of  historic  themes.  So 
much  of  the  sculpture  of  the  town  is  historical  that 
the  greater  portion  would  be  affected.  The  most 
complete  development  of  this  idea  is  illustrated  by 
a  plan  that  was  once  worked  out  for  New  York.  It 
has  been  proposed  that  the  city's  history  be  divided 
into  periods,  and  the  city's  area  into  correspond- 
ing sections.  Then  the  sculpture  that  relates,  for 
instance,  to  the  Dutch  occupation  would  be  con- 
fined to  that  section  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city 
which  would  have  its  artistic  focus  in  the  Bowling 
Green  and  Battery.  So,  with  the  city's  advance  in 
years  and  area,  new  sections  are  devoted  with  his- 
torical accuracy  to  the  sculpture  of  new  periods, 
as  to  that  relating  to  the  English  occupation,  to  the 
revolutionary  war,  or  to  the  civil  war.  By  the  co- 
operation of  the  local  historical  society  and  the 
local  art  societies,  especially  the  municipal  art, 
a  very  interesting  and  systematic  scheme  of  com- 
memorative sculpture  could  be  secured.  But  there 
are  agood  many  objections  to  the  plan,  and  it  is  men- 
tioned here  mainly  that  these  may  be  pointed  out. 


JZbc  ifunction  aiiD  plactns  of  Sculpture     233 


In  a  large  city,  where  the  daily  ebb  and  flow  of 
population  did  not  make  citizens  familiar  with  all 
sections,  the  tendency  would  be  to  emphasize  upon 
individuals  the  history  of  one  or  two  periods  only, 
making  their  civic  pride  narrow  and  incomplete. 
Further,  in  the  accurate  apportionment  of  areas  to 
events,  the  crowning  achievement  might  have  to  be 
recorded  in  a  very  lowly  corner  of  the  city  where 
there  would  be  no  site  adequate  to  its  importance, 
while  to  the  memory  of  a  citizen  or  a  fact  of  only 
mediocre  or  neighborhood  interest  the  best  site  in 
the  town  might  have  to  be  given.  A  sense  of  the 
high  possibilities  of  municipal  art  could  not  look 
with  favor  on  such  a  plan.  An  artistic  objection 
arises  also  in  the  thought  that  such  attempts  to 
make  a  systematic  record  of  the  city's  history 
would  almost  inevitably  lead  to  an  impatience  to 
fill  up  all  the  gaps.     And  art  dreads  haste. 

The  proposal  has,  however,  the  virtue  that  it  em- 
phasizes the  wisdom,  when  artistically  practicable, 
of  allotting  sites  with  a  regard  for  pertinence  to  the 
theme.  But  the  connection  should  be  not  merely 
one  of  time  and  place.  It  should  be  one  of  relative 
values.  As  is  the  site  among  available  positions, 
so  should  be  the  event  there  recorded  among  the 
happenings  of  the  town.  The  artistic  organization 
or  commission  which  designates  sites  might  well  call 
on  the  local  historical  society  for  advice;  but  the 
power  of  the  latter  should  be  only  to  recommend. 
In  the  placing  of  public  sculpture  there  are  too 
many  and  too  glaring  artistic  considerations  at 
stake  to  have  these  sacrificed. 


234        IFniprovement  ot  tlovvna  anO  Cities 


In  summing  up  the  discussion  of  sculpture's 
relation  to  city  beauty  it  is  felt  that  much  has  been 
left  unsaid.  In  the  larger  aspects  of  the  subject 
there  was  a  temptation  to  overlook  details,  and  in 
the  press  of  the  essential  details  aggregate  effects 
are  forgotten.  Yet  through  the  whole  contempla- 
tion this  thought  stands  out  clearly:  Public  sculp- 
ture is  abundantly  worth  while.  It  has  magnificent 
opportunities,  in  the  moral,  political,  aesthetic,  and 
educational  spheres.  When  of  high  purpose, 
worthy  performance,  and  fitting  location,  what  may 
it  not  do  for  city  beauty  ?  Public-spirited  citizens 
may  well  find  in  it,  as  they  do,  an  attractive  field 
for  enterprise.  It  has  long  been  a  favorite  form  of 
civic  benefaction. 

Indeed,  at  the  stage  of  development  at  which 
most  cities  are  to-day,  the  adornment  of  the  town 
with  public  sculpture  must  be  attained  through  the 
enthusiasm  of  citizens  voluntarily  engaging  in  the 
task.  In  the  first  step  the  donors  will  be  individ- 
uals, and  many  a  small  town  owes  its  one  bit  of 
public  sculpture — a  memorial  fountain,  a  statue,  or 
a  commemorative  monument — to  the  generosity  of 
a  single  resident.  The  next  step  will  be  in  the 
banding  of  many  citizens  together,  temporarily  or 
permanently,  for  this  purpose.  Of  this  origin  are 
such  recent  notable  examples  in  the  United  States 
as  the  great  Washington  Monument,  which  was 
presented  to  Philadelphia  by  the  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati  of  Pennsylvania;  the  Shaw  Memorial  at 
Boston;  the  Washington  Arch,  New  York;  the  bi- 
centenary monument   proposed    for    Detroit;    the 


Cbc  function  aiiD  plactng  of  Sculpture     235 

sculpture  with  which  the  Park  and  City  Branches  of 
the  Fairmount  Park  Art  Association  is  enriching 
Philadelphia;  and  the  fountains  on  Market  Street  in 
San  Francisco,  where  the  opportune  angles  offered 
by  a  diagonal  thoroughfare  have  awakened  interest 
in  the  subject.  Finally,  will  come  the  time  when 
cities  themselves  will  authorize  the  erection  of  pub- 
lic sculpture  for  their  adornment. 

Already  Paris  does  this.  When  she  wished  to 
throw  a  new  bridge  across  the  Seine  in  memory  of 
the  visit  of  the  Czar  and  to  accommodate  the  Ex- 
position traffic,  she  gave  to  leading  sculptors  com- 
missions for  its  decoration.  And  always,  by  the 
freedom  from  political  harassment  of  her  art  com- 
missions, their  permanency,  and  the  elevation  of 
their  artistic  ideals,  she  profits  by  a  continuous  art 
policy  which  is  productive  of  large  results,  in  the 
long  run,  from  comparatively  small  yearly  outlays. 
Even  in  the  United  States,  a  law  was  enacted  in 
New  York  State  in  1898  permitting  all  cities  of 
more  than  fifty  thousand  inhabitants  to  spend  a 
certain  sum  annually  ($50,000  by  the  cities  that 
have  a  population  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand or  more,  and  half  that  sum  by  the  others) 
for  American  works  of  art,  which  are  bought  "  for 
the  purpose  of  beautifying  "  the  city.  These  need 
not  be,  but  may  be,  sculpture;  and  the  act  requires 
that  the  expenditure  be  made  only  on  the  advice 
of  an  art  commission. 

Properly  considered,  sculpture  is  one  of  the  last 
and  highest  expressions  of  municipal  art.  We 
have  said  that  Paris  ordered  it  for  a  bridge.     In  so 


236         Umprovemcnt  ot  ^owns  anD  Cities 


doing  she  provided  a  fitting  and  noble  public  site, 
and  followed  good  precedent — as  the  Karl  Bridge, 
at  Prague  ;  the  Friedrichbriicke  and  Kurfursten- 
brucke,  at  Berlin;  and  some  of  her  own  construc- 
tions. Could  New  York,  indeed,  find  a  more 
striking  pedestal  for  a  statue  that  should  dominate 
a  wide  expanse  than  the  central  pier  of  the  Wash- 
ington Bridge  across  the  Harlem  ?  *  And  the 
placing  of  a  statue  on  a  bridge  is  fairly  typical  of 
sculpture's  true  position  in  civic  art.  The  statue 
comes  last,  and  only  after  a  bridge  has  been  built 
that  is  strong  and  graceful,  and  fitted  to  be  the  site 
of  a  creation  that  is  confessedly  and  preeminently 
a  work  of  art  —  that  is  a  self-negation  unless  it  be 
one.  Let  us  hope  and  believe  that  this  is  under- 
stood, and  that  in  the  United  States  so  inspiring 
an  opportunity  for  sculptors  will  never  again  pass 
as  ill  made  use  of  as  did  the  burst  of  patriotic  senti- 
ment that  followed  the  close  of  the  civil  war. 
Then,  in  innumerable  towns  and  cities,  cast-zinc 
soldiers,  made  by  wholesale,  were  mounted,  at 
parade  rest,  on  various  pedestals,  in  disused  and 
neglected  commons  or  on  dirty  streets.  There 
they  degraded  public  art  by  maligning  high  and 
pure  emotions.  We  shall  learn  to  honor  more 
worthily  in  the  future,  when  we  have  learned  to  be 
more  exacting. 

'  The  opportunity  was  recognized  by  one  of  the  competing 
engineers  in  his  design. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

POPULAR    EDUCATION    IN    ART 

IT  has  been  said  that  a  city's  educational  activi- 
ties do  have,  and  must  have,  an  aesthetic  influ- 
ence. Municipal  art,  which  owes  much  to  the 
philanthropic  impulse  of  the  community,  owes  no 
less  to  its  thirst  for  knowledge.  Head  guides 
heart  in  aesthetics  as  in  other  things,  and  the  will 
to  make  beautiful  is  supplemented  and  rendered 
efficacious  by  the  discovery  of  how  to  make  beau- 
tiful— due  to  a  more  or  less  direct  education  in  art. 
In  regard  to  city  development,  however,  we  must 
go  back  a  little  farther.  It  is  by  no  mere  chance 
that  beauty  is  the  last  and  highest  product  of  civic 
progress.  For  note  the  course  of  city  history:  The 
town  arises  as  a  point  of  human  energy.  It  is  a 
market  or  trade  centre  where  commodities  are  pro- 
duced, distributed,  or  suffer  a  break  in  their  trans- 
portation. Occasionally  it  may  have  been,  indeed, 
a  military,  religious,  or  political  Mecca;  but  in 
that  case  too  it  gathered  men  to  itself  because  it 
was  a  centre  of  energy.  The  primary  considera- 
tion at  a  town's  beginning  is,  then,  facility  in  th# 

237 


238         Umprovcmcnt  of  tTowns  anD  Cities 


performance  of  the  work  which  the  community  has 
to  do.  For  that  end  many  comforts  are  relin- 
quished, many  opportunities  for  pleasure  are  aban- 
doned. People  are  content  to  huddle  together,  to 
forego  the  delights  of  abundant  air  and  sunshine, 
to  sacrifice  natural  beauty,  to  dedicate  a  lovely 
water-front  to  trade,  a  commanding  site  to  a  hid- 
eous railroad  terminal,  or  to  suffer  whatever  other 
specific  form  of  self  and  communal  abnegation  the 
cause  of  efficiency  seems  to  require.  It  is  not 
until  a  measure  of  success  is  revealed  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  relatively  wealthy  and  leisure  class 
that  the  amenities  of  life  demand  attention.  Then 
larger  and  better  houses  are  constructed;  pleas- 
anter  grounds  and  streets  are  laid  out;  and  the 
community,  considered  as  a  whole,  takes  forward 
steps.  There  are  provisions  for  education,  for 
philanthropy,  for  enjoyment.  Asylums  and  hospi- 
tals are  followed  by  parks  and  baths;  schools  by 
libraries  and  art  galleries.  At  last  the  better  towns 
boast  that  the  culture  of  the  citizens  is  become  as 
much  a  matter  of  concern  as  is  the  cleaning  of  the 
streets,  while  regard  for  the  public  health — moral, 
political,  and  physical  —  is  as  strong  as  respect  for 
the  community's  industrial  activity. 

It  is  at  this  juncture  that  the  movement  to  bring 
beauty  into  the  city  becomes  mighty,  resistless, 
revealing  itself  in  many  channels.  It  has  gathered 
strength  through  long,  logical,  and  laborious  de- 
velopment. It  has  asserted  itself  in  the  elemen- 
tary construction;  it  has  been  schooled  in  the 
drudgery  of  merely  negative  action,  in  suppression 


popular  JEOucatlon  (n  Hct  239 


and  repression;  it  has  found  opportunity  to  make 
philanthropic  endeavors  serve  its  own  high  pur- 
poses; it  has  dared  to  undertake  sheer  art  work, 
and  it  rises  at  last  to  endorse  and  to  urge  popular 
education  in  art. 

Municipal  art's  demand  for  this  is  endorsed  by 
other  considerations.  The  economic  advantage  of 
bringing  art  into  industry,  so  that  by  the  latter's 
perfection  the  best  markets  may  be  held;  and  the 
very  goodness  of  knowledge  itself,  of  the  capacity 
for  broad  and  refined  appreciation  —  these  are 
strong  concurrent  arguments  for  the  provision  of 
opportunities  for  art  education.  But  the  final  test 
to  keep  in  mind  is  the  municipality's  conception 
of  its  duty.  When,  to  the  provision  of  public 
safety,  of  primary  education,  and  of  facility  for 
business,  the  town  adds  to  the  catalogue  of  its 
self-admitted  duties  the  provision  of  comfort  in 
living  and  then  of  instruction  in  the  principles  of 
beauty,  we  may  be  sure  that  it  has  advanced  far  in 
appreciation  of  aesthetics.  It  aspires  to  loveliness, 
and  has  taken  the  surest  road  to  obtain  the  civic 
beauty  and  dignity  it  seeks. 

For  it  is  essential  to  success  in  a  crusade  for 
urban  beauty,  where  the  people  are  the  real  sover- 
eigns, that  they  be  also  the  art  connoisseurs,  the 
art  patrons,  the  art  lovers.  That  is  the  secret  of 
the  success  of  Paris  among  modern  cities.  Patri- 
cians might,  indeed,  make  Venice  fair  enough  to 
be  the  Adriatic's  bride;  and  Lorenzo  de'  Medici 
might  gain  the  sobriquet  of  "  the  Magnificent  "  for 
the  riches  which  he  lavished  upon  Florence.     Nero 


240        llmprovemcnt  of  clowns  anO  Cities 


could  fiddle  while  Rome  burned,  dreaming  perhaps 
of  the  golden  house  and  imperial  city  that  were  to 
rise.  Pericles  could  meet  accusations  of  squander- 
ing the  public  money  with  the  confident  appeal, 
"  Make  Athens  beautiful,  for  beauty  is  now  the 
victorious  power  in  the  world."  Great  emperors, 
tyrants,  powerful  families,  have  found  a  sure 
glory  for  themselves  in  adding  to  the  splendor  of  a 
town,  in  finding  it  brick  and  leaving  it  marble. 
But  when  the  people  have  purpose  and  power  of 
their  own;  when  there  is  no  tyrant  who,  if  he  will, 
can  do  all  for  them;  when  at  least  they  hold  the 
purse-strings,  the  town  must  look  to  them  alone  for 
its  beauty  and  art.  That  this  is  better  need  not 
here  be  said. 

So  it  happens  that  while  distinctive  instruction  in 
art  by  the  city,  as  a  portion  of  its  proper  function 
and  its  duty  to  all  citizens,  is  a  late  and  proud 
achievement  of  civic  aesthetics,  yet  any  instruction 
in  the  principles  and  technique  of  beauty  counts. 
Private  or  public,  of  individual  or  associated  foun- 
dation, education  in  art,  whatever  its  origin,  makes 
for  a  beautiful  city.  It  enlists  new  champions  in 
the  cause.  It  provides  the  fine  sense  and  expert 
judgment  that  should  guide  the  ignorant,  crude, 
and  unformed  taste  of  the  many,  and  it  clothes 
that  judgment  with  the  authority  which  pertains  to 
the  respected.  By  showing  what  might  be,  it  cre- 
ates a  demand  for  what  may  be,  and  it  teaches  how 
to  secure  it.  The  town  which  has  begun  to  long 
for  higher  things  is  taught  to  long  for  them  intelli- 
gently and  to  make  them  practicable. 


popular  SDucatton  tn  art  241 

The  instruction  may  be  of  various  kinds.  We 
see  much  of  it  in  private  clubs,  especially  in  pro- 
fessional and  women's  clubs,  whose  members  band 
themselves  together  for  the  study  of  art,  in  its 
principles,  its  history,  or  its  evidences  through  all 
the  world.  The  instruction  may  receive  an  impe- 
tus from  the  universities  and  colleges;  it  may  be 
popularized  by  lectures;  it  may  have  a  place  in 
the  public  school  system;  it  may  be  imparted 
directly  in  scliools  of  art,  and  by  the  influence  of 
galleries;  or  private  societies  may  show  themselves 
public-spirited  by  bringing  the  subject  of  civic  art 
before  the  people.  The  propaganda  of  the  village 
improvement  societies  is  thus  educational.  The 
Reform  Club  of  New  York  and  the  League  for 
Social  Service,  with  beauty  in  the  city  only  one  goal 
of  effort,  have  collected  large  libraries  on  city  prob- 
lems, putting  them  at  the  service  of  the  public,  and 
have  collected  photographs  and  lantern  slides.  As 
another  instance,  the  art  committee  of  the  Twenti- 
eth Century  Club  of  Boston,  to  set  an  untrained 
public  to  thinking,  formulated  a  few  years  ago  a 
series  of  questions,  offering  cash  prizes  for  the  best 
answers  by  juvenile  competitors.  Samples  of  these 
questions,  since  put,  appropriately  modified,  with 
suggestive  advantage  in  other  cities,  are  as  follows: 

1.  What  things  are  most  necessary  to  make  a 
beautiful  city  life  ?  Mention  those  which  Boston 
possesses  and  those  which  she  lacks. 

2.  (a)  Name  a  well-known  street  thai  has  a  good 
sky-line,  and  one  that  has  a  bad  one. 

(b)  What   objections    are    there    to    the    usual 

i6 


243        improvement  of  a:owns  anD  Cities 


methods  of  placing  signs  and  posters  on  our 
streets  ?  What  improvements  can  you  suggest  in 
the  treatment  of  them  ? 

3.  Name  some  of  the  most  beautiful  and  some 
of  the  ugliest  objects  in  South  Boston,  the  North 
End,  West  End,  South  End,  Back  Bay,  and  Rox- 
bury. 

8.  What  great  opportunities  has  Boston  lost  to 
make  the  city  beautiful? 

Premising  a  practical  value,  then,  in  all  the  edu- 
cational efforts,  it  is  no  part  of  our  task  to  detail 
the  instruction  afforded  by  private  institutions,  and 
the  bearing  of  this  on  civic  art.  When  a  university, 
imparting  general  culture,  has  schools  of  art  and 
of  architecture,  offers  travelling  scholarships  in 
these  subjects,  and  inaugurates  competitions  for 
plans  of  urban  improvements,  the  connection  is  un- 
mistakable. Clearly,  if  the  city,  as  a  city,  should 
do  this,  it  would  further  dignify  the  position  of  art 
in  the  popular  estimate  of  education's  natural 
divisions. 

But  the  modern  university  of  America,  with  the 
wide  reach  of  its  elective  studies  and  the  broad 
scope  of  its  general  purpose,  does  not  stop  even  at 
so  much  aid  to  the  knowledge  of  how  to  make  cities 
beautiful.  A  number  of  universities  have  estab- 
lished regular  courses  in  landscape  architecture 
and  several  have  more  lately  opened  city-planning 
courses.  The  influence  of  such  instruction,  carried 
into  innumerable  communities,  will  do  much  to  show 
the  difference  between  art  and  its  lack — even  though 
all  the  graduates  do  not  set  out  professionally  to 
practice.     The  first  travelling  scholarship  for  archi- 


I 


popular  Education  in  art  243 


tecture  to  be  established  in  the  United  States  is 
said  to  have  been  as  recent  as  1883,  There  is  now 
a  long  list  of  them,  and  public-spirited  men  have 
lately  established  in  Rome  an  American  School  of 
Architecture.  There  have  lately  been  endowed, 
also,  in  the  universities,  as  a  result  of  the  wide- 
spread interest  in  the  government  and  progress  of 
cities,  several  lectureships  or  chairs  of  municipal 
affairs.  A  type,  for  instance,  is  that  which  is  the 
ultimate  purpose  of  the  fund  that  was  raised  as  a 
memorial  to  Colonel  Waring.  Its  subject,  at  Co- 
lumbia University,  could  not  properly  be  "civic 
art,"  architecture,  or  even  landscape  gardening; 
but  we  have  seen  how  important  a  part  in  the  prob- 
lem of  city  beauty  is  that  played  by  the  ordinary 
engineering  problems.  The  street  cleaning,  more- 
over, is  a  sine  qua  non. 

Apart  from  the  aid  of  the  universities,  the  edu- 
cational phase  of  municipal  art  in  America  owes 
much  to  lectures.  These  are  most  likely  to  have 
behind  them  a  society  or  club  that  is  working  for 
city  betterment — as  in  Denver,  where  the  City  Im- 
provement Society  has  arranged  courses  of  public 
lectures  on  the  subject;  or  as  in  Massachusetts, 
where  the  State  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs, 
establishing  a  lecture  bureau,  at  once  prepared  a 
talk  that  was  entitled  "  Town  Improvement,  or 
Beautiful  Surroundings."  This  has  been  in  con- 
stant and  enthusiastic  demand.  Educational  in- 
stitutions, organizing  popular  lecture  courses,  also 
frequently  include  this  subject. 

These  lectures  on  civic  resthetics  can  be  easily 


244         Umprovcmciit  ot  (Towns  aiiD  Cities 


illustrated,  can  be  adapted  to  any  degree  of  intelli- 
gence, and  have  the  merit  of  setting  audiences  to 
thinking.  The  most  familiar  type  of  them  is  one, 
for  example,  that  was  entitled  "A  More  Beautiful 
Boston,"  delivered  under  the  auspices  of  the  art 
committee  of  the  Twentieth  Century  Club  of  that 
city.  It  applied  to  local  conditions  the  general 
principles  of  civic  art,  and  so  enforced  them  and 
made  them  seem  practical.  It  may  be  worth  while, 
however,  to  speak  of  two  others  which  illustrate 
the  different  directions  in  which  these  lectures  may 
develop.  One  was  delivered  in  a  great  hall  in 
Detroit.  It  was  popular  in  every  sense  of  that 
misused  word.  A  large  audience  listened  and  was 
interested,  because  the  delivery  was  itself  a  result 
of  a  stirring  of  the  people's  heart  with  enthusiasm 
for  the  bi-centenary  civic-memorial  project.  The 
people  came  to  be  told  of  the  sort  of  thing  they 
were  wishing  to  do.  The  other  was  delivered  by  a 
young  woman  before  the  members  of  an  evening 
club  of  street  waifs.  She  had  no  pictures,  save 
those  which  her  own  words  drew;  but  she  caught 
and  held  their  attention  by  basing  her  remarks  on 
their  knowledge  and  love  of  the  town  and  their 
pride  in  it.  They  were  street  boys  and  she  inter- 
preted and  revealed  the  possibilities  of  their  stamp- 
ing ground.  In  the  schools,  where  the  children's 
attention  can  be  held  to  the  subject  by  repeated 
talks,  the  volunteer  leagues  of  juvenile  workers 
hav-e  appeared. 

Speaking  generally,  instruction  in  municipal  art 


IPopular  EDucntion  In  Bet  245 


^stre'ching  the  three  terms,  instruction,  municipal, 
and  art,  to  their  limit  —  is  mainly  left  in  American 
cities  to  private  initiative.  Art  is  treated  by  the 
cities  altogether  too  much  as  if  it  were  a  luxury. 
In  the  public  school  system  it  hardly  makes  more 
than  a  tentative  appearance,  with  the  occasional 
elementary  instruction  in  drawing,'  The  recent 
interest  in  bringing  art  into  the  schoolrooms  may, 
however,  as  we  have  seen,  accomplish  something 
else.  It  is  significant  from  this  view-point  that  the 
Municipal  Art  Society  of  Baltimore  has  an  active 
committee  on  school  decoration,  the  society  attach- 
ing importance  to  the  subtle  influence  of  an  art  en- 
vironment and  to  familiarity  with  the  examples  of 
art's  application  to  cities.  In  the  departments  of 
higher  education  the  cities,  as  such,  rarely  do  more 
than  afford  occasional  scholarships  in  an  art  school. 

But  once  leaving  the  field  of  direct  education, 
they  are  more  active.  The  larger  cities  have  nota- 
ble public  galleries,  and  though  these  are  not 
specifically  municipal,  yet  most  of  them  owe  con- 
siderable to  the  city.  The  Metropolitan  Museum 
of  Art  at  New  York,  for  instance,  was  the  out- 
growth of  a  public  meeting  and  is  indebted  for  its 
collections  to  the  public  spirit  of  individuals.  But 
it  stands  on  park  land  and  owes  its  site  and  build- 
ing to  the  city,  in  consideration  of  an  agreement  to 
admit  the  public  free  on  four  days  of  the  week,  and 
on  holidays,  and  to  give  special  privileges  to  public 
school  teachers  and  pupils.  Similarly  in  Boston 
the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  owes  its  site  to  the  city, 
and  only  about   one    fourteenth  of  its  visitors  pay 

^yj,  note,  pg.  301. 


246         "ffniprovcment  of  tTowns  anD  Cities 


an  admission  fee.  In  Philadelphia  the  city  pro- 
vided the  funds  for  a  gallery  that  promises  in  time 
to  be  very  notable.  In  Chicago  the  Art  Institute 
has  had  nearly  six  hundred  thousand  visitors  in  a 
year  and  a  registration  of  about  twelve  hundred 
students.  That  something  in  the  way  of  art  ad- 
vantages is  due  to  its  citizens  by  the  progressive 
city,  for  its  own  good  name  and  credit,  has  come 
therefore  to  be  recognized.  It  is  interesting  to 
note,  too,  in  this  connection,  occasional  efforts  by 
voluntary  associations  of  citizens  to  make  existing 
collections  more  efficient  in  an  educational  way. 
For  instance,  in  Philadelphia  the  Civic  Club  an- 
nually conducts  in  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  a 
series  of  evening  receptions,  for  which  tickets  are 
distributed  through  societies,  guilds,  manufactories, 
etc.  A  committee  is  present  to  explain  the  pic- 
tures and  to  receive  the  votes  of  the  visitors  as  to 
the  one  liked  best. 

European  cities  go  further  officially  than  the 
American.  The  art  schools  of  the  city  of  Paris, 
and  that  city's  eager  appreciation  and  encourage- 
ment of  talent,  are  well  known.  The  lessons  that 
will  be  found  most  helpfully  suggesti\'e  to  America 
are  those  afforded  by  the  great  new  manufacturing 
centres  of  England,  as  Birmingham  and  Man- 
chester, for  municipal  schools  of  art  are  found  in 
nearly  all  large  English  cities. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  trace  here  the  curious  rise  of 
the  desire  for  public  instruction  in  art  in  these  in- 
dustrial towns,  and  the  accidents  that  favored  the 
growth  of  their  schools.     Suffice  it  to  say  that  the 


popular  BDucatioii  in  Brt  247 


need  of  bringing  art  into  manufactures,  if  England 
would  maintain  her  manufacturing  supremacy,  was 
a  primary  cause.     The  Municipal  Schools  of  Art 
at  Birmingham  were  the  first  in  the  United  King- 
dom.    There  are  about  eleven  hundred  students  in 
the  splendid   central   building,    and   perhaps   four 
thousand  at  the  branches,  and  this  of  course  makes 
no  count  of  the  pupils  who  receive  elementary  in- 
struction in  drawing  at  the  board  schools,  although 
that  also  is  under  the  supervision  of  the  School  of 
Art.     The  high  standard  of  the  school  has  been 
proved  frequently  in  the  prizes  it  has  secured  in 
national  competitions.     The  direct  effect  of  its  far- 
reaching  instruction,   upon  the  local  problems  of 
civic  art,  which  must  be  sufficiently  obvious  in  a 
general  way,  has  been  further  revealed  by  special 
acts.     The   Art   School    building   has   itself  been 
adorned  with  stained  glass,  decorative  brasswork, 
and  so  on,  by  the  pupils;  and  they  have  decorated 
with   pertinent   historical    or  symbolical   paintings 
the  long  mural  panels  of  the  Town  Hall  —  as  if  in 
witness  of  a  feeling  of  obligation  on  the  students* 
part  to  beautify  the  city  which  has  taught  them  to 
know  and  love   beauty.      To   describe    the    great 
school    at   Manchester  would  be  to  describe  Bir- 
mingham's again,  and  in  proportion  to  their  size 
the  smaller  cities  do  as  much  for  definite  art  edu- 
cation as  do  the  larger. 

But  these  schools,  interesting  as  they  are,  form 
only  the  active  side  of  the  constant  art  educational 
effort  of  English  cities.  The  fine  municipal  gal- 
leries may  be  said,  by  contrast,  to  form  the  passive. 


248         1Impiot>emcnt  ot  ilowns  aiiD  fllttes 


These  not  only  reach  a  class  of  citizens  whom  the 
schools,  with  their  particular  appeal  to  the  young, 
could  not  reach;  but  they  offer  a  constant  art  ideal 
that  keeps  the  goal  of  all  the  effort  high  and  pure, 
that  cultivates  almost  unconsciously  the  public 
taste.  They  put  the  city's  stamp  of  practical  value 
on  what  to  so  many  of  its  citizens  might  seem  the 
"  merely  "  beautiful  and  dreamy;  and  from  their 
rich  collections  they  frequently  loan  pictures  for 
the  adornment  of  the  public  buildings. 

Although  maintained  from  the  rates,  these  mu- 
nicipal art  galleries  owe,  like  the  art  schools,  much 
of  their  excellence,  and  often  their  very  origin,  to 
private  generosity.  Thus,  with  loyalty  to  high 
standards  of  art,  they  may  develop  special  char- 
acteristics. The  gallery  in  vast,  black,  manufac- 
turing Birmingham,  for  instance,  is  notable  for 
examples  of  pre-Raphaelite  art.  In  nearly  all  the 
galleries  the  educational  work  of  the  permanent 
collection  is,  however,  enhanced  by  special  loan 
exliibitions.  These  also  do  much  to  maintain  the 
institution's  popularity.  At  Birmingham  the  first 
was  devoted  to  pictures  by  Burne-Jones  and  George 
Frederick  Watts,  and  drew  over  four  hundred 
thousand  visitors  in  three  months.  The  next  was 
devoted  to  pictures  by  Henshaw,  the  next  to  a  col- 
lection of  English  art  from  the  Manchester  Jubilee 
Exhibition.  It  attracted  nearly  three  hundred 
thousand  visitors  in  three  months.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  there  was  an  exhibition  from  private 
galleries  of  family  portraits  and  old  masters.  An- 
other  time    English    animal    painters    and    at   yet 


popular  jBSDucatton  in  Brt  249 

another  time  modern  French  painters  were  the 
subjects.  In  the  loan  exhibitions  of  tlie  corpora- 
tion of  London,  that  of  1S99  happened  to  be  de- 
voted to  Turner.  Surrounded  as  it  was  by  national 
collections,  and  relatively  academic  as  was  its  sub- 
ject, it  was  visited  by  three  hundred  persons  an 
hour  for  the  three  months  it  was  open.  An  exhi- 
bition of  French  paintings  was  followed  by  a  dinner 
given  by  the  Lord  Mayor  at  the  Mansion  House  "in 
honor  of  art,"  and  then  by  a  ball  at  the  Guild 
Hall. 

With  a  careful  but  enthusiastic  administration  of 
these  galleries  there  is  a  conscientious  effort  also 
to  develop  their  educational  functions.  In  the 
corporation  galleries  at  Glasgow  important  lectures 
have  been  given  by  request  of  the  governors  of  the 
School  of  Art.  In  Manchester,  the  curator  has 
found  lectures  less  successful  in  reaching  and  help- 
ing the  art-ignorant  than  is  a  personal  mingling 
with  such  visitors  and  informal  talk.  In  Birming- 
ham a  good  deal  of  faith  is  placed  in  cheap  cata- 
logues which  have  very  heavy  sales.  For  a  penny 
these  often  give  not  only  the  names  of  the  pictures, 
but  something  about  the  artist  and  his  work. 

In  Liverpool,  Worcester,  Leicester,  and  many 
other  places  the  municipol  galleries  are  spread- 
ing an  important  art  influence,  which  is  not  yet 
greater  everywhere  in  visible  results  only  because 
the  galleries  are  so  new.  Never  are  they  allowed 
to  get  far  from  the  popular  touch,  lest  the  people 
might  come  to  think  of  city-art  as  something  aloof 
and  apart.      The  attendance  at  the    Birmingham 


2?0 


Umprovement  of  Cowns  anO  Cities 


gallery,   open  free  every  day,   including  Sunday, 
ranges  from  five  hundred  thousand  to  seven  hun- 
dred   thousand    in    a  year;    and  each  visitor,    on 
entering  through  the  registering  turnstile,  sees  on 
the  wall  before  him  a  bulletin  giving  to  date  the 
statistics  of  attendance.     In  a  column  on  the  left 
are  printed  the  days  of  the  week,  in  the  next  col- 
umn is  recorded  the  attendance  for  each  of  these 
days,  and  then  a  statement  of  the  weather  condi- 
tions.    Underneath  is  written  the  total  for  the  pre- 
ceding week,  and  below  that  are  the  very  impressive 
figures  which  show  the  total  attendance  since  the 
opening  of  the  gallery.     Thus  there  is  no  citizen 
so  lowly  that  he  may  not  feel  a  personal  interest 
and  pride  in  these  statistics  of  the  people's  appre- 
ciation. 

That  all  this  activity  makes  indirectly  for  nr.ani- 
cipal  art  in  its  general  sense  will  be  not  less  clear 
than  that  it  is,  of  itself,  municipal  art  in  a  narrower 
and  special  way.  The  details  of  management  of 
galleries  and  schools  need  hardly  be  gone  into 
here.  Differing  conditions  of  city  government 
would  require  different  conditions  of  administra- 
tion for  the  town's  institutions.  It  is  enough  that  in 
the  development  of  municipal  art  ideals  this  phase 
or  expression  of  the  aspiration  appears.  It  means 
that  the  town,  which  at  first  had  no  thought  save 
that  of  adaptability  at  any  cost  to  its  business,  and 
which  attained  but  slowly  to  a  desire  for  the  com- 
fort and  culture  of  its  citizens,  may  finally  —  with 
all  its  industrial  activity  continuing — come  to  con- 
sider the  education  of  its  people  in  the  knowledge 


IPopulau  EMicattoii  in  Brt  251 

and  love  of  beauty  to  be  one  of  its  duties,  and  to 
desire  art  objects  for  its  own  possession  because  it 
cherishes  art  for  art's  sake.  In  that  there  is  a  very 
striking  advance. 

One  suggestion  obtrudes  itself  in  considering  the 
progress.  This  is  the  appropriateness  of  a  city's 
emphasizing  municipal  art  in  its  advocacy  of  aes- 
thetics. Should  not  that,  indeed,  be  the  main 
object  in  a  city's  collection  of  beautiful  things  and 
of  its  instruction  in  art  ?  What  more  fitting  than 
that  the  municipality  should  frankly  look  at  art 
from  its  own  standpoint,  should  teach  its  citizens 
to  love  and  wish  for  civic  beauty;  and  in  its  col- 
lection of  casts,  paintings,  or  industrial  fabrics, 
should  care  most  for  those  that  suggest  ways  for  its 
own  adornment,  that  are  examples  which  may  in- 
spire its  citizens  to  take  a  like  action  for  their 
common  good  ?  And  is  not  this  the  fairer  course  ? 
The  public  moneys  should  be  spent  iox  public  art. 

This  can  be  done  as  easily  as  it  can  properly. 
In  the  pictures  that  decorate  the  walls  of  school- 
rooms, some  emphasis  is  given  inevitably  to  civic 
art.  It  might  well  be  increased.  In  the  popular 
lectures  town  esthetics  should  certainly  have  a 
place;  and  in  the  lessons  in  the  art  schools,  good 
models  for  architectural  or  sculptural  work,  or  for 
copyists  or  for  painters  from  nature,  ought  readily 
to  be  found  in  the  home  city.  If  it  be  necessary  to 
go  outside  to  secure  them,  this  fact  should  be  im- 
pressed on  the  pupils.  That  the  general  tendency 
would   be   to  increase  civic  pride,   there  can  be 


252 


llmprovcment  of  ^ovvns  an&  ditles 


scant  doubt;  but  the  point  to  be  made  here  is  thai 
such  a  course  would  shortly  lead  to  the  city's  own 
enrichment.  And  the  enrichment  would  be  that 
which  is  the  noblest  that  any  city  can  have:  that 
bestowed  by  the  love  and  talent  of  its  own  citizens. 
This,  then,  marks  the  climax  of  municipal  art 
endeavors.  It  is  the  better  attainment  because  it 
is  not  only  an  end,  but  by  its  rich  promise  is  a  be- 
ginning. The  city  that  has  advanced  so  far  in  the 
conception  of  its  duty,  and  that  sees  in  the  crowd- 
ing together  of  many  persons  not  a  richer  oppor- 
tunity for  business  only,  but  for  progress  in  culture 
and  in  art  which  ought  officially  to  be  furthered, 
that  city  has  advanced  to  the  utmost.  If  it  now  be 
true  to  high  ideals  it  will  develop  a  civic  art  that 
will  write  its  name  in  history.  Individual  generos- 
ity cannot  provide  this  instruction  quite  as  fittingly 
as  can  the  city,  for  of  private  beneficence  the  fine 
and  general  arts  are  the  more  proper  subject.  But 
until  the  city  does  exercise  its  high  prerogative, 
this  opportunity  to  act  in  its  behalf  must  be  tempt- 
ing to  public  spirit.  What  higher  call  is  there  than 
to  teach  men  to  love  city  beauty  and  to  show  them 
how  to  secure  it  ? 


CHAPTER   XV 


WORK    OF    INDIVIDUALS    AND    SOCIETIES 


A  STUDY  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  new 
movement  for  beauty  in  cities  and  towns 
makes  note  of  two  elements.  On  the  one  hand  is 
the  advance  in  mechanics  and  invention,  making 
possible  an  improved  construction  of  streets  and 
favoring  suburban  development.  On  the  other,  is 
the  human  activity,  the  earnest  effort  of  men  and 
women  who  have  wakened  to  the  possibilities  and 
obligations  of  city  building.  We  have  grouped  the 
latter  for  convenience  under  the  three  dominating 
motives  of  i>hilanthropic,  educational,  and  aes- 
thetic impulse.  It  might  have  been  grouped,  from 
another  standpoint,  in  two  divisions:  as  public  and 
popular,  as  otiticial  and  individual.  Since  the  offi- 
cial endeavors  for  city  improvement  can  be  traced 
to  the  authority  bestowed  by  popular  approval,  the 
latter  is  the  main  source  of  energy.  Unofficial 
endeavors,  as  the  nearest  to  the  original  impulse, 
may,  then,  be  first  considered. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  in  so  far  as  the  goal 
is  civic  art  the  significance  of  a  general  interest  in 

253 


254         flmprovcmcnt  of  ^owns  an?  Cities 


the  subject  has  always  been  that  the  public  has  a 
consciousness  of  the  nearness  to  life  of  art,  espe- 
cially of  municipal  art.  This  is  revealed  (i)  in  its 
admission  of  the  feeling  of  its  own  obligation  to 
art;  (2)  in  the  artists'  revelation  of  their  sense  of 
duty  to  the  community.  Both  sides  show  themselves 
aware  of  the  connection  in  innumerable  private 
acts,  but  it  becomes  clearer  in  the  associated  effort. 
The  latter  thus  groups  itself  readily  into  that  of 
laymen  and  that  of  artists. 

The  lay  societies  further  divide  themselves  into 
the  neighborhood  or  local  associations,  and  the 
town  or  general  associations,  all  having  for  purpose 
the  fulfilment  in  their  own  particular  direction  of 
the  public's  duty  to  art.  To  recapitulate,  then,  all 
effort  for  city  beauty  is  official  or  unofficial.  The 
latter  may  be  conveniently  considered  as  by  artists 
or  laymen,  and  the  laymen  societies  are  general  or 
local.  In  either  of  these  cases  it  is  impossible  to 
do  more  than  suggest  their  range  by  giving  types. 

The  Association  for  the  Protection  of  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York,  was  organized  to  keep  street 
car  tracks  from  that  thoroughfare.  Its  purposes 
extended  gradually  and  it  has  taken  part  in  many 
discussions  as  champion  of  the  beauty  of  the  street. 
Across  the  East  River  there  was  subsequently  or- 
ganized the  Brooklyn  Hill  Improvement  League. 
Its  purpose  is  to  promote  the  interests  of  three 
neighboring  wards  by  adding  to  their  aesthetic  at- 
tractions. The  district  was  once  described,  even 
with  some  pride  by  its  residents,   as   "  a  brown- 


TKIlorh  of  1InDiv»l<Mml3  anD  Socictiee         255 


stone  wilderness."  A  newspaper,  commenting  on 
the  league,  has  said:  "  It  proposes  to  look  after 
such  eminently  practical  things  as  securing  good 
pavements  and  clean  streets,  the  planting  of  trees, 
and  slowly  to  lead  up  to  such  radical  departures  as 
will  overcome  what  one  of  the  speakers  described 
as  '  the  dreadful  monotony  in  Brooklyn,  a  lack  of 
artistic  effect  in  our  homes.'  "  Two  things  about 
this  purpose  are  notable  and  significant.  One  is 
the  recognition  that  the  foundations  of  city  beauty 
lie  in  lowly  and  severely  practical  things;  the  other 
is  that  mere  solidity  and  costliness  do  not  involve 
beauty.  In  a  suburb  of  Chicago,  Oak  Park,  there 
was  formed  a  neighborhood  society  that  affords  an 
interesting  contrast,  for  the  thing  its  members  had 
to  dread  was  not  too  much  monotony,  but  too 
little  uniformity,  on  any  street.  As  suburban  resi- 
dences, the  houses  represented  the  individual 
tastes  of  their  owners.  The  society  could  approve 
of  this,  so  far  as  the  taste  was  good  and  the  con- 
trasts not  too  glaring,  and  placed  its  emphasis  on 
community  of  action  in  public,  or  semi-public, 
work,  such  as  the  planting  of  trees  on  a  street,  the 
improvement  of  a  square,  or  the  choice  of  a  site 
for  a  public  building.  The  West  End  Improve- 
ment Association,  in  Rochester,  has  exerted  itself 
to  secure  better  street  car  service,  better  lighting, 
better  care  of  the  trees.  It  strives  to  keep  the 
municipality  and  corporations  to  their  duty. 

The  cases  named  are  good  types,  because  they 
represent  converging  but  different  lines.  Their 
number  is  legion,   every  city   having  some.     The 


256         llmprovemcnt  of  ^owns  and  Cities 


last  example  suggests  their  danger.  It  is  the  devel- 
opment of  local  rather  than  public  spirit.  A  Cleve- 
land newspaper,  recently  naming  a  half-dozen  local 
improvement  societies  of  the  city,  said  that  there 
were  a  full  half-dozen  more  and  complained  that 
each  was  clamorous  for  the  artistic  development  of 
its  own  district.  Whatever  may  have  happened  in 
that  case,  one  needs  little  knowledge  of  the  present 
condition  of  American  city  politics  to  perceive 
what  might  happen.  Jealousy  might  lead  to  the 
blocking  of  all  improvement,  or  it  might  result  in 
a  series  of  "  deals  "  which  would  involve  the  city 
in  much  more  than  it  ought  to  undertake.  A  local 
association  is  likely  also  to  be  often  lacking  in  the 
precise  district  where  improvement  is  most  needed, 
and  amid  the  bickerings  of  the  organized  cham- 
pions of  other  districts  that  locality,  though  it  be 
prominent  and  need  much,  may  be  neglected. 
The  local  associations  are  good,  they  are  evidence 
of  an  encouraging  spirit,  and  provide  a  channel  for 
neighborhood  enthusiasm  and  vigilance  that  may 
do  much  for  city  beauty;  but  they  have  those 
dangers. 

The  existence,  and  the  greater  influence,  of  tov/n 
or  general  associations  suggest  a  remedy.  The 
third  annual  report  of  the  City  Improvement  Soci- 
ety of  Denver  (1899)  said  that  since  that  society's 
organization  five  similar  ones  in  the  town  had  been 
formed.  "  The  first  was  the  Logan  Avenue  Im- 
provement Association,  followed  by  the  North, 
South,  and  West  Side  Societies  [and]  the  prom- 
ising   Twentieth    Avenue    Association."     If    the 


TMorh  of  UiiDivtDuals  anD  Spctetiee        257 


mother  organization  could  maintain  a  maternal 
control  over  these,  condemning  or  approving  local 
demands  from  the  standpoint  of  the  city  at  large, 
there  would  be  little  to  fear  from  neighborhood 
societies.  They  would  furnish  the  vigilance  to 
discover  every  little  local  need,  and  then  the  gen- 
eral society  would  sift  these  and  determine  what 
ought  to  be  done  for  the  greatest  benefit  to  all. 
Happily,  in  the  interest  for  town  improvement,  the 
progressive  American  city  is  almost  as  sure  to-day 
to  have  a  general  association  as  it  is  to  have  local 
societies,  and  usually  this  is  well  fitted  to  take  the 
larger  point  of  view  and  to  emphasize  it  with  a 
larger  authority.  It  will  be  worth  while  to  exam- 
ine a  few,  for  they  also  work  on  lines  which,  though 
finally  converging,  start  far  apart. 

In  July,  1899,  in  response  to  the  suggestion  of  a 
city  official,  delegates  from  five  or  six  district  or 
neighborhood  improvement  clubs  in  Oakland,  Cal., 
met  and  organized  a  central  club,  which  they  called 
the  Associated  Improvement  Association.  The 
club  was  non-political  in  character,  and  had  as 
object  to  secure  "  for  the  citizens  of  Oakland  a 
larger  and  more  beautiful  city,  with  improved 
streets,  sewers,  and  parks."  A  significant  result 
of  the  formation  of  this  central  body  was  that  new 
district  associations  were  organized  in  sections  that 
had  not  previously  possessed  them.  This  was  ow- 
ing to  the  wish  of  residents  of  those  sections  to 
profit  from  the  advocacy  of  general  improvements 
by  the  central  association. 

The  City  of  Hamilton  (Canada)  Improvement 
17 


258         Umprovcment  of  tlowne  anD  Cities 


Society  is  an  organization  of  citizens  of  which  the 
Mayor  is  president.  Its  object  is  to  make  of  Ham- 
ilton a  healthful  and  beautiful  city.  In  its  announce- 
ment the  society  states  that  it  does  not  desire  to 
supersede  any  of  the  municipal  departments,  but 
rather  to  aid  and  encourage  the  committees  by 
calling  attention  to  m.atters  which  had  been  over- 
looked or  neglected.  It  issues  a  booklet  containing 
the  city  ordinances,  and  appeals  to  citizens  young 
and  old  to  obey  these  and  so,  by  leaving  undone 
many  specified  things,  to  add  much  to  the  attract- 
iveness of  Hamilton.  Members  pay  an  annual  fee 
of  one  dollar.  Of  like  friendly  co-operation  with 
the  city  administration,  is  the  better-known  Cock- 
burn  Association,  of  Edinburgh.  The  latter  has 
done  much  to  make  the  city  attractive.  Aggres- 
sively high-minded  and  critical  as,  by  its  works,  it 
has  shown  itself  to  be,  its  relations  with  the  city 
officials  are  entirely  cordial.  It  expressly  dis- 
claims essential  antagonism;  the  Lord  Provost  of 
the  city  was  long  its  own  president;  and,  in  an 
official's  words,  the  Cockburn  Association  "  strives 
to  form  a  link  between  the  civic  rulers  and  outside 
public  opinion."  In  its  fearlessness,  however,  it 
has  done  much  more.  Its  annual  fee  is  only  two 
shillings  and  sixpence,  for  the  power  of  these  socie- 
ties is  not  financial  but  sentimental,  is  derived 
from  the  public  opinion  of  them,  from  the  esteem 
in  which  they  are  held.'     A  slightly  different  type 

'  Very  pertinently  it  may  be  here  remarked  that  the  Cock- 
burn  Association,  as  its  name  suggests,  was  a  result  of  one 
man's  public  spirit  and  enthusiasm  for  the  beauty  of  his  town. 


i 


"CClorh  of  HiiDiviDuale  and  Societies        259 


of  general  organization,  co-operating  with  the  city- 
administration,  is  afforded  by  the  City  Improvement 
Society  of  New  York.  With  a  comparatively  small 
subscribing  membership,  this  society  has  not  devel- 
oped beyond  the  point  where  it  offers  a  medium 
whereby  residents  who  have  complaints  to  make, 
regarding  various  nuisances  and  the  non-enforce- 
ment of  ordinances,  can  bring  these  to  the  proper 
authorities  in  an  influential  way.  More  than  two 
thousand  have  been  forwarded  to  city  departments 
and  officials  in  a  single  year  and  have  been  gener- 
ally attended  to.  As  they  relate  largely  to  the  re- 
moval of  roadway  and  sidewalk  obstructions  and  to 
unnecessary  noises,  the  society  is  true  to  its  pub- 
lished objects,  which  are  :  "  To  promote  the  im- 
provement and  beautifying  of  the  city,  and  to  assist 
and  stimulate  the  authorities  in  enforcing  the  laws 
relating  to  such  objects."  The  Municipal  Improve- 
ment Association  of  New  Orleans  was  organized  in 

Lord  Cockburn's  Memorial  and  yournal  appeared  posthu- 
mously in  1874,  and  the  people  found  in  it  so  much  of  wide 
interest  and  appeal  regarding  steps  taken  to  improve  or  pro- 
tect the  picturesqueness  of  Edinburgh  and  its  environs  that 
a  demand  arose  for  a  society  that  should  make  the  furthering 
of  such  work  its  duty,  as  he  had  done.  The  Lord  Provost  was 
prayed  to  call  a  public  meeting,  and  appended  to  the  requisi- 
tion addressed  to  him  for  the  purpose  were  extracts  from  the 
book.  Lord  MoncreifF,  in  presiding,  referred  to  Cockbum  as 
"  the  ver)'  embodiment  of  what  a  patriotic  citizen  of  Edinburgh 
ought  to  be."  He  said  that  what  the  city  needed  was  "a 
watchful  eye  kept  by  a  kind  of  collective  Argus,  such  as  this 
society  would  present."  —  Vide  article  by  the  author  in 
Municipal  Affairs,  December,  1899,  on  "  The  Work  of  th» 
Cockbum  Association." 


26o  Improvement  of  Clowns  an&  Cities 


1897  "for  the  purpose  of  making  New  Orleans  a 
pleasanter,  cheaper,  and  more  healthful  place  to  live 
in."  In  its  earlier  years  it  mainly  devoted  itself 
to  an  effort  to  secure  municipal  ownership  of  pub- 
lic works,  premising  that  such  a  step  would  "  im- 
prove and  beautify  "  the  city,  as  well  as  make  it 
more  healthful  and  reduce  the  cost  of  living. 

Aside  from  these  societies,  representative  types 
of  those  which  seek  to  co-operate  with  the  adminis- 
tration, or  to  enlarge  its  power,  there  are  many  that 
take  a  less  friendly  attitude. 

The  Civic  Federation  of  Chicago,  dividing  its 
activity  into  several  departments,  works  for  the  one 
end  along  various  parallel  lines.  The  political 
department  strives  to  secure  cleaner  politics  and 
better  public  officers;  while  it  was  in  the  muni- 
cipal department  that  it  cleaned  the  streets  of  the 
downtown  business  district  for  six  summer  months, 
supplementing  widely  gathered  figures  in  proof  that 
the  city  paid  more  than  necessary  for  such  work. 
The  Citizens'  Association  has  been  equally  critical 
and  fearless;  and  the  Alaniial  which  it  issues, 
showing,  in  chronological  order,  the  principal 
achievements  of  the  association  since  its  com- 
mencement in  1874,  is  very  impressive.  The 
paving  of  streets,  the  suppression  of  the  smoke 
nuisance  and  of  unnecessary  noises,  are  some  of 
its  many  objects  of  investigation  that  make  for  a 
better  city.  Aiming  yet  more  directly  for  this  pur- 
pose in  Chicago  is  the  Municipal  Art  League. 

Philadelphia,  in  the  Art  Federation,  organized 
in  1900,  offered  a  good  example  of  another  type. 


TlClorh  of  UnDiviDuala  anD  Societies         261 


Broader  than  its  name  implied,  it  sought  to  bring 
not  only  art  societies,  but  all  the  institutions, 
organizations,  and  departments  of  the  city  govern- 
ment that  are  concerned  in  the  embellishment  and 
improvement  of  the  town,  into  co-ordination.  The 
federation  was  formed  by  delegates  from  these 
various  agencies,  and  the  Mayor  in  addressing  them 
showed  an  enthusiasm  and  interest  that  gave  basis 
to  his  promise  of  cordial  official  sympathy.  This 
society,  therefore,  was  not  in  antagonism  to  the 
administration,  and  bore  to  the  smaller  societies 
which  compose  it  that  maternal  relation  that  may 
do  so  much  for  civic  art.  Of  the  unusual  work  of 
Philadelphia's  Fairmount  Park  Art  Association, 
which  is  one  of  its  members,  we  have  already 
spoken.  So,  also,  of  various  municipal  art  so- 
cieties. In  Cleveland  a  Municipal  Art  League  was 
formed  to  foster  popular  interest  in  the  plan  to 
group  the  public  buildings.  In  Toronto  a  federa- 
tion of  artists,  architects,  and  art  lovers  was  formed 
in  1897  under  the  title  of  the  Guild  of  Civic  Art. 
Its  purpose  was  to  stimulate  and  protect  the  efforts 
for  municipal  beauty.  Under  its  supervision  the 
decoration  of  a  part  of  the  new  City  Hall  has  been 
going  on,  a  private  individual  paying  the  expenses.' 
There  is  a  temptation  to  continue  through  a  long 
list  of  such  organizations;  but  we  shall  name  only 
one  more.  This  shall  be  in  Brooklyn,  since  we 
named  a  local  association  there.  It  is  the  Woman's 
Club.  Interest  in  the  subject  of  municipal  art  is 
common  to  the  women's  clubs  of  so  many  towns 
and  cities  that  at  the  biennial  gatherings  of  the 
'   I'll,  note,  pg.  301. 


262         Unipiovement  of  Cowns  anO  Cities 


General  Federation  some  sessions  are  devoted  to 
this  subject.  Since  these  gatherings  are  attended 
by  delegates,  their  discussion  of  any  subject  creates 
for  it  a  sort  of  national  convention.  From  this 
fact  town  improvement  in  the  United  States  is 
beginning  to  profit  not  a  little.  But  the  friends  of 
town  and  city  beauty  are  not  women  alone  ;  and 
in  the  fall  of  1900,  at  a  gathering  in  Springfield, 
O.,  of  representatives  of  village  and  city  improve- 
ment societies,  an  association  was  formed  under  the 
title  of  the  American  League  for  Civic  Improvement. 
Its  object  was  defined  in  its  constitution  as  "to  bring 
into  communication  for  acquaintance  and  mutual 
helpfulness  all  organizations  interested  in  the  pro- 
motion of  outdoor  art,  public  beauty,  town,  village, 
and  neighborhood  improvement."  Societies  and 
individuals  were  made  eligible  for  membership,  and 
it  was  proposed  to  "further  the  work  for  public 
beauty  "by  organizing  local  societies  throughout  the 
United  States  and  by  holding  national  conventions.^ 

In  reviewing  the  work  of  the  various  associations, 
a  few  thoughts  suggest  themselves.  The  distinc- 
tive spheres  of  the  local  and  general  laical  so- 
cieties have  been  pointed  out.  Each  supplements 
the  other.  The  general  association  may  do  a  good 
work  not  only  in  transforming  neighborhood  spirit 
into  public  spirit,  and  in  providing  against  the 
struggle  of  some  sections  of  the  city  to  gain  benefits 
over  other  sections;  but  it  may  also,  with  its  wider 
membership,  prevent  an  unscrupulous  perversion 
of  these  local  societies'  influence  for  the  profit  of 

1  Vd.  note  to  page  162  on  pg.  300. 


TIClorh  of  UnDlPlDuals  auD  Societies        263 


favored  contractors.  It  becomes,  further, — like  its 
prototype,  the  village  improvement  society, —  a 
nucleus  for  the  public  sentiment  existing,  and  this 
secondary  purpose  is  not  less  important  than  the 
eagerness  to  accomplish  definite  things.  For  it 
then  has  a  general  position,  and  municipal  art 
being  a  public  question,  the  more  democratic  the 
interest  in  it,  the  better.  A  traveller,  describing 
Berlin  some  years  ago,  spoke  of  it  as  a  modern 
city,  whose  aspect  had  "  no  marked  character  and 
next  to  no  originality."  Such  a  city  has  no  charm. 
There  is  a  grievous  lack  in  whatever  beauty  it  pos- 
sesses, for  beauty  is  not  a  result  to  be  gained  by 
rule.  When  municipal  art  is  the  expression  of  the 
people,  this  danger  vanishes.  The  charm  that  a 
city  then  possesses  not  only  gives  pleasure;  it  is 
of  rich  ethnological,  social,  and  historical  value. 
These  popular  societies  have  a  high  role  and  an 
inspiring  opportunity. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  artist's  sense  of  obliga- 
tion to  the  public  is  one  of  the  results  of  a  general 
interest  in  civic  art  and  that  its  significance — full 
of  importance  to  art  as  well  as  to  city — is  his  realiza- 
tion that  even  in  the  hurrying,  strenuous  life  of  the 
day  he  is  not  to  be  a  person  apart  from  the  world, 
but  is  one  with  a  duty  to  the  community.  If  his 
task  were  simply  to  supply  beautiful  objects  of  his 
own  handiwork,  he  might  live  apart ;  but  as  a  factor 
in  the  city's  very  life,  what  more  obvious  duty  has 
he  than  the  artistic  direction  and  guidance  of  its 
efforts  ?     This  he  must  do,  in  the  main,  through 


264         Umprovement  ot  ITowns  atiD  Clttes 


association.     The  public  are  many,  the  artists  are 
few.     To  have  power  the  latter  must  combine. 

This  is  no  new  belief.  The  guilds  of  long  ago 
might  be  fairly  considered  as  art  societies.  With 
what  magnificent  statues  did  her  guilds  enrich 
Florence  !  A  fapade  of  a  single  church  has  a  statue 
from  each  of  the  twelve  guilds,  among  them  Dona- 
tello's  67.  George  of  the  Armorers.  And  all  through 
Europe  what  has  not  civic  art  owed  to  the  cathe- 
dral builders  ? 

Coming  home  and  to  modern  times,  one's  thought 
turns  to  municipal  art  societies,  the  Municipal  Art 
League  of  Cleveland  and  the  Art  Federation  of 
Philadelphia  as  fair  examples  of  the  associated 
effort  of  artists.  These  organizations,  however, 
are  largely  composed  of  citizens  who,  though  they 
may  love  art,  have  not  adopted  it  as  a  profession. 
Civic  pride  and  public  spirit  are  the  main  requisites 
to  membership  in  them,  while  now  we  have  to  do 
/with  the  efforts  for  town  and  city  beauty  by  prac- 
tical workers  in  some  division  of  the  fine  arts. 
The  interest  of  the  local  societies  of  artists  is  the 
first  and  simplest  example. 

Plainly,  the  architects  have  an  exceptional  op- 
portunity. And  this  involves  exceptional  obliga- 
tions. It  has  been  treated  pretty  fully  in  another 
place.  They  have  the  advantage  of  being  able  to 
devote  professional  knowledge  to  the  interests  of 
municipal  art  without  departing  from  their  natural 
field — an  advantage  not  shared  by  some  other  clubs 
of  artists,  which  therefore  find  popular  opinion 
less  docile.     The  architect,  far  more  easily  than 


TKHorh  ot  UnOlvtDuale  anO  Societiee         26= 


other  artists,  can  offer  to  the  man  engaged  in 
another  vocation  a  new  and  tangible  civic  ideal. 
He  can  lead  the  citizen  of  to-day  to  compare  his 
city,  not  with  that  of  ten  years  ago,  to  wonder  at 
its  progress  and  be  satisfied;  but  with  the  city  that 
might  be,  and  may  be  if  the  citizens  will,  ten, 
twenty,  or  thirty  years  hence.  So  in  the  popular 
mind  he  can  make  aspiration,  desire,  endeavor, 
take  the  place  of  satisfaction,  with  the  result  that 
the  city  will  march  surely  toward  an  aesthetic  ideal. 
To  do  this  is,  of  course,  the  goal  of  all  the  art 
societies  that  work  for  city  beauty;  but  the  archi- 
tectural have  the  best  chance.  Especially  is  this 
true  among  local  societies,  though  all  may  do 
something  in  congresses,  exhibitions,  and  the  con- 
duct of  competitions.  That  has  been  clear  all 
through. 

Where,  however,  a  merely  local  society  may  fail, 
through  suspicion  of  its  disinterestedness,  doubt 
of  its  exceptional  knowledge,  or  denial  of  its 
authority,  a  national  society,  demanding  more  re- 
spect, may  succeed.  Accordingly,  earnest  workers 
have  formed  national  associations  representative 
of  the  various  divisions  of  art,  and  each  glad  to  do 
its  share  for  beauty  in  cities  and  towns.  The 
national  societies  of  architects  are  a  good  type. 
One  of  them,  the  American  Institute  of  Archite^^ts, 
has  petitioned  Congress  to  appoint  an  expert  com- 
mission which  shall  draw  up  a  comprehensive  plan 
for  the  improvement  and  development,  topographi- 
cal and  architectural,  of  the  city  of  Washington.' 
The  other,  the  Architectural  League  of  America, 
'  Vii.  note,  pg.  301. 


266         flmprovcmcnt  of  ^owns  an&  Cities 


early  appointed  from  its  own  number  a  national 
committee  on  municipal  improvement  and  civic 
embellishment.  The  committee  was  composed  of 
architects,  sculptors,  mural  painters,  and  writers  on 
these  subjects,  residents  of  various  cities  from  New 
York  to  New  Orleans.  Its  purpose  was  to  act  in  an 
advisory  capacity,  when  so  requested  by  municipal- 
ities or  corporations,  and  to  do  so  without  charge. 

A  near  approach  to  this  action  is,  in  a  different 
field,  the  work  of  the  National  Sculpture  Society. 
It  also,  as  we  have  seen,  has  an  advisory  commit- 
tee. But  the  sculptors,  like  the  architects,  in  local 
meetings  or  in  national  conventions,  do  not  always 
wait  to  be  invited  to  advise  —  often  as  that  invita- 
tion comes.  They  take  the  initiative  in  many  a 
discussion  on  how  a  city  might  be  beautified. 

Our  mural  painters  also  have  formed  a  national 
society.  Their  art  is  still  young  in  America,  but 
it  is  strong.  By  the  decoration  of  public  buildings 
it  has  made  New  York,  Boston,  and  Washington 
notably  richer  in  civic  art.  Indeed,  a  prominent 
sculptor,  in  addressing  a  convention  of  architects, 
figured  as  follows,  to  show  the  value  of  artistic 
decoration  :  "  The  cost  of  the  Congressional 
Library  building,"  said  he,  "was  $6,032,000. 
Only  about  $400,000  was  expended  on  the  artistic 
decoration,  which  is  seven  per  cent.  Am  I  not 
safe  in  saying  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  interest 
for  the  public  is  centred  in  those  decorations  which 
cost  only  seven  per  cent,  of  the  total  ?  "  It  is 
significant  that  mural  painting  could  have  so  soon 
a  national  organization  behind  it,  and  hardly  was 


WLovk  of  1InOirl?uals  anD  Societies        267 


the  society  formed  before  its  opportunity  arose. 
The  promoters  of  the  Pan-American  Exposition, 
in  the  wish  to  make  this  beautiful  and  artistic,  ap- 
pointed a  general  director  of  color  decorations, 
with  an  advisory  committee,  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  mural  painters'  national  society. 

The  next  such  national  organization  to  be  formed 
was  the  American  Society  of  Landscape  Architects. 
Action  which  it  promptly  took  in  opposition  to  a 
proposed  site  for  the  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  monu- 
ment in  New  York  indicates  one  of  its  proper 
spheres  of  activity.  But  it  means  much  for  civic 
art  that  the  new  profession,  with  us,  of  landscape 
architecture,  as  distinguished  from  the  purely 
commercial  or  the  amateur  landscape  gardening, 
should  have  risen  to  the  power  and  dignity  of  a 
national  society.  For  consider  how  recently  parks 
have  been  laid  out  in  cities  and  how  lately  the 
serious  attempt  to  make  the  surroundings  of  a 
home  or  factory  really  beautiful  have  ceased  to  be 
uncommon. 

These  societies  represent  the  national  artistic 
organizations,  which  are  a  power,  clearly,  for 
beauty  in  our  communities.  There  is  left,  how- 
ever, one  form  of  society  that  may  also  be  effec- 
tive on  occasion.  An  example  of  this  is  the  Fine 
Arts  Federation  in  New  York.  Here  was  a  case 
where  a  city  contained  a  great  number  of  art  so- 
cieties of  one  kind  and  another.  Their  very 
number  rendered  united  action  difficult  and 
tedious.  Accordingly  a  central  representative 
committee  was  proposed,  and  in  response  the  Fine 


268        Umprovement  of  tTowne  anD  Cities 


Arts  Federation  was  formed.  This  made  co- 
operation a  prompt  and  practical  reality,  and 
offered  a  means,  as  occasion  might  arise,  for 
quickly  and  authoritatively  expressing  the  judg- 
ment of  the  municipality's  artistic  element.  The 
Fine  Arts  Federation's  nomination  of  men  from 
whom  the  mayor  shall  choose  members  for  the 
municipal  art  commission  is  a  case  in  point. 

It  will  occur  to  the  reader  that  Philadelphia's 
Art  Federation  is  very  similar.  It  was  formed 
later,  and  differs  mainly  in  the  admission  to  mem- 
bership of  any  lovers  of  beauty  and  organized 
workers  for  it,  whether  they  be  artists  or  not. 
There  are  plainly  some  recommendations  to  this 
plan,  and  an  interesting  national  society  has  been 
formed  on  that  basis,  with  headquarters  in  New 
York.  This  is  the  National  Arts  Club  which  has 
at  once  been  well  received.  It  designs  to  pro- 
mote civic  embellishment  and  the  interests  of  all  the 
decorative  arts,  to  be  a  means  for  communication 
between  art  clubs,  and  a  sort  of  central  organiza- 
tion for  all  art  lovers.  The  secretary,  in  writing 
of  it,  has  suggested  that  this  club  of  laymen  inviting 
artists  to  membership  is  a  striking  supplement  to 
the  art  societies  inviting  laymen  to  membership, 
for,  together,  we  have  "  the  beginnings  of  a  bridge 
from  both  sides  of  the  gulf  that  has  hitherto  lain 
between  the  artists  and  the  public."  The  assured 
success  of  municipal  art  is  dependent  on  the  build- 
ing of  suc?i  a  bridge. 

In  reviewing  what  may  be  done  for  civic  sesthet- 


mork  of  llnDivlDual!?  anO  Societies        269 


UA  through  individuals  grouped  in  societies,  laic 
and  artistic,  the  need  of  co-operation  is  evident. 
The  gulf  between  art  and  public  must  be  bridged, 
for  municipal  art  is,  first  of  all,  public  art.     The  re- 
sult will  be  better,  also,  for  co-operation.     On  the 
one  hand,   the  art  societies  will  keep  before  the 
"  lay  "  societies  an  exalted  and  true  ideal.     On 
the  other,  the  society  composed  of  citizens  repre- 
senting the  community  at  large  ought  to  supply  the 
often-needed  sieve  of  common-sense,  for  the  sifting 
of  the  practical  from  the  purely  dreamy.     It  should 
also  furnish  the  means  to  realize  what  the  artists 
can  imagine,  and  so  may  many  times  render  prac- 
tical what  otherwise  were  visionary.     The  sifting 
is  an  important  work,  for  popularly  municipal  art 
has    no    greater   danger   than    is   afforded  by   the 
extravagance   of   enthusiasts.      They  dream   of  a 
New  Jerusalem  on  earth,  so  beyond  the  range  of 
probable  attainment  that  the  whole  cause  is  injured 
by  the  senseless  fantasy.     To  make  cities  cleaner 
and  fairer,  and  so  city  life  purer  and  happier,  by 
adherence  to  the  simplest  rules  of  art  and  common- 
sense — that  would  work  change  enough  to  be  the 
goal  of  modern  effort  for  beauty  in  the  city.     The 
laic  and  the  art  society,   therefore,    do  not  work 
independently;    but  each,  like  the  local  and   the 
general  association,  is  a  needed  supplement  to  the 
other. 

There  is  one  other  point  to  be  made  while  speak- 
ing of  common-sense.  It  is  the  necessity  of  mov- 
ing slowly  and  carefully  at  the  start  —  the  old 
advice,  "  Be  sure  you  are  right;  then  go  ahead." 


270        frnprovcment  of  ^Towns  anD  Cities 


This  has  been  well  put  by  the  moving  spirit  of  the 
strong  Woman's  Club  of  Denver.  She  says: 
"  The  Woman's  Club  did  very  little  practical 
work  for  three  years.  An  organization  of  this 
kind  must  first  obtain  the  confidence  of  the  com- 
munity by  conservative  methods,  the  members 
must  become  familiar  with  each  other  and  with 
their  respective  departments,  and,  above  all,  care- 
ful study  must  be  made  into  the  needs  of  the  city 
or  community  in  which  such  a  body  desires  to  work. 
It  is  better  to  theorize  a  year  too  long  than  to  start 
into  work  and  fail."  Such  words  come  graciously 
from  a  club  that  has  done  so  much. 

The  purpose  of  this  book,  however,  will  have 
been  missed  if  it  has  not  made  clear,  without  need 
of  further  waiting,  that  there  are  things  which, 
beyond  peradventure,  are  right  and  good  and 
helpful  to  city  beauty  along  rational  lines.  In- 
dividuals and  existing  societies  may,  then,  do 
much,  without  waiting  to  test  theories  with  time. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  the  city  plant  trees  in 
front  of  every  schoolhouse.  Why  should  not 
church  and  synagogue,  and  every  art  society  that 
owns  a  lot,  do  as  well  before  its  own  property  ? 
The  object-lessons  afforded  by  practice  are  worth 
a  deal  of  preaching.  And  what  is  said  of  tree 
planting  will  stretch  over  a  wide  range  of  deeds. 
The  worker's  vigilance  should  begin  at  home. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


WORK    OF    OFFICIALS 


IN  considering  the  work  that  may  be  done  for 
town  and  city  beauty  by  officials  an  unex- 
pected problem  appears.  It  is  the  choice  of  means. 
It  may  be  assumed  that  the  official  endeavors  rest 
on  popular  approval;  that,  in  fact,  they  are  the 
"expression  by  representation"  of  the  people's 
will.  Officials,  being  thus  authorized,  can  obvi- 
ously carry  out  the  popular  wish  with  greater 
facility  than  could  the  people,  since  the  officials 
have  the  civic  machinery.  So  it  is  necessary  only 
that  the  administration  recognize  the  popular  will 
and  be  desirous  to  obey  it.  That  granted,  the 
problem  arises. 

Shall  municipal  art  be  considered  as  a  natural 
growth  of  civic  progress,  or  as  an  exotic,  a  flower 
of  luxury  to  be  brought  in  and  nourished  care- 
fully ?  If  it  be  the  latter,  the  wisest  course  will  be 
the  creation  of  a  special  department  for  its  care, 
the  entrusting  of  it  to  a  commission  unembar- 
rassed by  other  duties  and  especially  skilled  in  its 
nurture.  If  to  make  the  town  beautiful  is  as 
natural  as  to  make  it  healthful  and  safe,  if  the  task 

271 


272         Umprovement  of  Q:owns  an&  Ctties 


is  so  bound  up  with  the  other  accepted  functions 
of  government  as  to  make  its  separation  for  the 
most  part  impossible,  then  the  obligations  to  mu- 
nicipal art  rest  mainly  with  the  regular  officials. 
Suppose  that  the  authorized  representatives  of  the 
people  perceive  in  the  community  a  wish  for  greater 
beauty:  on  which  of  these  theories  should  they 
proceed  ? 

It  is  no  surprise  to  find,  in  the  variety  of  Amer- 
ican city  governments,  acceptance  now  of  one 
theory  and  now  of  the  other.  The  range  of  official 
action  for  civic  art  is  broad  enough  to  include 
them  both.  Let  us  note  some  of  their  character- 
istics, observe  the  trend,  and  then,  in  review, 
broader  than  can  usually  be  taken  by  the  city 
official  whom  the  problem  suddenly  confronts,  we 
will  discover  if  we  can  what  course  is  wisest. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  beauty  in  environment  is 
a  good,  proper,  and  natural  desideratum.  Other- 
wise the  question  would  be  not  how  to  secure  it; 
but  rather  the  securing  of  it  at  all.  As  a  good 
thing,  then,  progress  toward  it  along  natural  lines, 
in  the  way  of  regular  development,  suggests  good 
officials.  They  will  be  not  only  men  who  have 
skill  and  wisdom  in  the  conduct  of  the  city's  affairs, 
but  men  of  high  ideals  and  conscientiousness.  It 
would  not  be  surprising  to  find  such  officials  organ- 
izing to  profit  by  one  another's  experience,  and 
their  organizations  ought  to  be  important  factors 
in  the  battle  for  city  beauty  where  the  effort  remains 
with  the  officials. 


■til 


THHorft  of  ©fllcials  273 


In  the  summer  of  1894  a  street  commissioner  of 
a  Western  city  sent  out  a  number  of  letters  to 
mayors,  boards  of  public  works,  and  other  munici- 
pal officers,  suggesting  the  formation  of  just  such 
a  society  as  imagined.  Its  members  should  meet 
annually  for  the  exchange  of  experiences  and  ideas. 
A  large  number  of  favorable  responses  were  re- 
ceived, and  in  September  sixty  representatives  of 
thirteen  cities  assembled  in  Buffalo,  and  organized. 
They  chose  as  name  "  The  American  Society  of 
Municipal  Improvements,"  and  made  cities  or  city 
officials  alone  eligible  for  membership.'  They 
formally  declared  their  object  to  be  the  promotion 
and  dissemination  of  a  knowledge  regarding  "  the 
best  methods  to  be  employed  in  the  management 
of  all  municipal  departments  and  the  construction 
of  municipal  works."  At  its  second  convention, 
seventy  cities  were  represented.  The  society  be- 
came strong,  influential,  and  to  the  suggestions  in 
the  annual  pamphlet  reports  of  its  proceedings  not 
a  little  of  the  actual  work  for  city  beauty  has,  in- 
deed, been  due. 

Three  years  later,  in  1S97,  the  League  of  Ameri- 
can Municipalities  was  formed.  This  sought  similar 
ends.  They  are,  as  described  in  its  constitution: 
"  The  general  improvement  and  facilitation  of 
every  branch  of  municipal  administration  by  the 
following  means:  First,  the  perpetuation  of  the 
organization  as  an  agency  for  the  co-operation  of 

'  By  an   amendment  to   the  constitution,   adopted   at    the 

meeting  of  1900,  individuals  who  are  not  officials  were,  under 

certain  conditions,  made  eligible  for  membership. 
iS 


274         fmprovcmcnt  ot  Cowiis  aiiD  Cities 


American  cities  in  the  practical  study  of  all  ques- 
tions pertaining  to  municipal  administration  ; 
second,  the  holding  of  annual  conventions  for  the 
discussion  of  contemporaneous  municipal  affairs; 
and,  third,  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  a  central  bureau  of  information  for  the  collec- 
tion, compilation,  and  dissemination  of  statistics, 
reports,  and  all  kinds  of  information  relative  to 
municipal  government." 

The  central  bureau  of  information  is  probably 
the  most  important  branch  of  the  league's  work. 
It  is  designed  to  furnish  without  charge,  to  mem- 
bers, complete  data  on  any  required  subject  from 
all  the  important  cities  of  the  country.  The 
league's  energy  is  thus  constructive,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  distinctly  destructive  criticism  of 
most  reform  associations.  Municipalities  alone 
are  members,  the  idea  being  to  secure  a  per- 
manency of  organization  that  would  be  imperilled 
were  individual  officials  the  members,  and  the  cities 
pay  a  membership  fee  graded  according  to  their 
population.  The  league  has  grown  rapidly,  and  in 
its  very  large  membership,  including  nearly  two 
hundred  cities,  and  in  its  extensive  collection  of 
reports  is  a  strong  possible  power  for  urban  beauty. 

In  addition  to  these  national  societies.  State 
leagues  have  been  formed  in  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  Kan- 
sas, California,  Connecticut,  Florida,  Pennsylvania, 
and  in  various  other  commonwealths.  These  again 
afford  to  city  officials  a  chance  to  meet  in  annual 
session  for  the  discussion  of  municipal  topics 
and  the  exchange  of  ideas  and  experiences. 


IMovh  of  Officials  275 


It  is  a  matter  of  no  slight  significance  to  civic  art 
that  officials  should  thus  voluntarily  come  together 
for  periodic  consultation  and  conference  concern- 
ing the  interests  committed  to  their  care.  There 
was  a  time  when  such  a  thing  could  hardly  have 
been  dreamed  of.  If  beauty  be  a  proper  and 
natural  development  of  city  administration,  it 
should  be  furthered  by  these  practical  conferences. 

And  there  is  another  factor  of  power  which  is 
helping  the  cause  of  city  beauty.  This  does  not 
represent  exclusively  the  conscientiousness  and 
interest  of  officials;  but  as  it  is  partly  representa- 
tive of  that,  and  is  of  much  assistance  to  such 
officials,  it  may  be  mentioned  here.  It  is  the 
number  of  periodical  publications  —  weekly, 
monthly,  or  quarterly — now  devoted  to  municipal 
affairs  and  public  improvements.  Most  obviously, 
of  course,  they  are  an  effect  of  the  widespread  in- 
terest in  city  conditions,  but  they  become  also  a 
cause  of  it,  and  are  a  means  of  suggesting  solutions 
to  many  problems. 

The  alternative  theory,  that  municipal  art  is  a 
luxury,  to  be  added  to  the  town  or  city  through  an 
extraneous  medium,  being  neither  an  inevitable 
product  of  development  nor  a  thing  which  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  regular  officials  to  secure — this  theory 
also  has  many  adherents,  and  has  resulted  in  the 
foundation  of  distinct  organizations.  In  deference 
to  it  the  municipal  art  commissions  are  created, 
and  the  responsibility  for  municipal  art  efforts  and 
advance  is  put  into  their  hands. 


276         f  mprovemcnt  ot  tTowns  anD  Cities 


The  first  of  these  commissions  was  established  in 
Boston.  It  was  composed  of  men  of  experience 
and  good  taste,  the  ex-officio  membership  of  the 
present  body  including,  besides  the  Mayor,  the 
President  of  th'^  Public  Library,  the  President  of 
the  Museum  of  j7ine  Arts,  the  President  of  the 
Boston  Society  of  Architects,  and  the  President  of 
the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  The 
charter  of  Greater  New  York  subsequently  provided 
for  the  appointment  of  a  similar  commission  for 
that  city.  Of  its  ex-officio  members  we  have  already 
spoken.  But  in  addition  it  required  that  the 
mayor  should  appoint  six  more  members  —  one 
painter,  one  sculptor,  one  architect,  and  three 
other  residents  who  should  not  be  members  of 
an  arts  profession — from  a  list  submitted  by  the 
Fine  Arts  Federation  of  New  York.  The  commis- 
sioners should  serve  without  pay,  but  their  expenses 
should  be  met  by  the  city.  The  charter  requires 
that  : 

No  work  of  art  shall  become  the  property  of 
the  city  of  New  York  by  purchase,  gift,  or  other- 
wise, unless  such  work  of  art  or  design  of  the 
same,  together  with  a  statement  of  the  proposed 
location  of  such  work  of  art,  shall  first  have  been 
submitted  to  and  approved  by  the  commission; 
nor  shall  such  work  of  art,  until  so  approved,  be 
erected  or  placed  in  or  upon,  or  allowed  to  extend 
over  or  upon  any  street,  avenue,  square,  common, 
park,  municipal  building,  or  other  public  place  be- 
longing to  the  city.  The  commission  may,  when 
they  deem  proper,  also  require  a  complete  model 
of  the  proposed  work  of  art  to  be  submitted.  The 
term  "work  of  art  "  as  used  in  this  title  shall  apply 


TKlorh  of  ©fficials  277 


to  and  include  all  paintings,  mural  decorations, 
stained  glass,  statues,  bas-reliefs  or  other  sculp- 
tures, monuments,  fountains,  arches,  or  other 
structures  of  a  permanent  character,  intended  for 
ornament  or  commemoration.  No  existing  work 
of  art  in  the  possession  of  the  city  shall  be  re- 
moved, re-located,  or  altered  in  any  way  without 
the  similar  approval  of  the  commission. 

On  this  general  model  art  commissions  have 
been  established  in  Chicago,  Baltimore,  and  other 
cities.  Of  their  limitations,  of  some  of  their  virtues 
and  some  ot  their  faults,  there  has  been  specific 
mention  in  the  chapter  on  sculpture;  the  commis- 
sions having  first  exercised  their  powers  mainly 
upon  that.  Even  in  such  narrow  field  they  served 
a  practical  purpose  at  the  earlier  phase  of  our 
civic  development.  Unhappily,  however,  from 
the  broader  standpoint,  their  existence  fosters  a 
belief  that  city  beauty  is  a  costly,  a  formal,  lux- 
urious thing  which  may  not  be  demanded  as  a 
natural  right.  They  tend  to  reconcile  the  citizen 
to  receiving  from  regular  officials  something  less 
than  he  ought  properly  to  have. 

But  because  the  municipal  art  commission  does 
have  a  practical  field  of  usefulness  in  supplementing 
the  limitations  of  official  taste,  it  commends  itself 
as  a  temporary  expedient,  winning  many  friends. 
And  federal  officers  are  not  so  far  in  advance  of 
municipal  officers  in  art  matters  that  a  suggestion 
for  a  national  commission,  to  pass  upon  art  work 
for  the  nation,  has  lacked  support. 


278         Umprovemeiit  ot  a;ovvns  anD  tittles 

In  the  Congress  of  1900  a  bill  was  introduced  to 
secure  such  a  commission.     It  was  backed  by  the 
Public  Art  League,   and  provided  a  commission 
consisting  of  the  President  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute of  Architects,  the  President  of  the  National 
Sculpture  Society,  and  the  President  of  the  N  ational 
Academy  of  Design  (architecture,  sculpture,   and 
painting),  together  with  two  other  citizens  to  be 
appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  body  was  given   initiative  as  well  as  critical 
powers.     The  bill   provided  that  the  commission 
should  pass  upon  the  artistic  merit  of  the  design 
of  every  work  of  art  to  be  purchased  by  the  nation, 
constructed  for  it,  or  offered  to   it  as  a  gift,  this 
scrutiny  extending   even  to  coins,  seals,   medals, 
notes,  stamps,  and  bonds;  that  it  should  institute, 
conduct,  organize,  and  direct  competitions  in  con- 
nection with  the  preliminary  designs  for  such  works, 
and  should  appoint  special  juries  for  the  considera- 
tion of  works  requiring  a  certain  kind  of  expert 
study.     All  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  members 
of  the  commission  were  to  be  paid  by  the  govern- 
ment when  they  were  engaged  in  the  public  service, 
but  no  member  was  to  receive  any  compensation, 
nor  could  a  member  take  part  in  any  of  the  com- 
petitions.    The  only  works  exempt  from  the  pro- 
visions of  the  bill  were  certain  public  buildings 
costing  $50,000  or  less. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  its  friends  and  members 
the  Public  Art  League  advocated  interest  in  the 
bill,  attracting  attention  to  its  initiative  features. 
"The  future  of   art,"    it   said,    "as   exemplified 


lUork  ot  Officinle 


in  the  landscape,  buildings,  and  monuments  of 
Washington,  is  at  stake.  Whether  a  grand,  homo- 
geneous scheme  shall  be  devised  that  will  l)e  a 
future  monument  to  the  present  age,  or  whether 
the  present  haphazard  method  shall  continue,  is 
the  question  now  before  the  United  States  Con- 
gress. Congress  has  under  consideration  at  the 
present  time  a  memorial  bridge  to  Arlington,  a 
boulevard  through  the  Mall,  the  enlargement  of 
the  executive  mansion,  a  municipal  building  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  a  hall  of  records,  a  supreme 
court,  and  numerous  statues  and  buildings  for 
future  use.  The  question  for  those  interested  in 
the  artistic  development  of  the  country  is.  Shall 
these  truly  great  projects  be  executed  without  a 
well-considered  and  developed  plan  to  group 
buildings,  landscape,  statues,  and  bridges  in  one 
harmonious  and  grand  whole,  or  shall  they  be 
executed  as  at  present,  under  separate  departments, 
here  and  there,  anywhere,  without  general  plan 
or  grouping,  and  with  little  taste  in  individual 
structures  ?  " 

The  proposed  National  Art  Commission  was, 
therefore,  a  deliberately  planned  means  to  further 
civic  art  in  Washington  through  official  channels. 
The  bill,  which  would  have  done  much  for  Wash- 
ington, if  practicable,  would  have  done  something 
also  for  nearly  all  cities.  It  was  opposed  on 
various  grounds,  mainly  those  of  impracticability 
and  probable  inefficiency,  by  the  strong  Fine  Arts 
Federation  in  New  York,  and  though  it  received  a 
good  deal  of  approving  comment  in  the  newspapers 


28o         llmprorcment  of  ^owns  an&  Cities 


it  failed  to  pass.  Its  introduction,  terms,  and 
purposes  were,  however,  significant.  It  broached 
the  extension  to  the  nation  at  large  of  the  present 
functions  of  a  municipal  art  commission.  In  modi- 
fied form  these  purposes  of  the  bill  were  later  ap- 
proved, and  the  National  Commission  of  Fine  Arts 
is  now  an  active  and  helpful  agency. 

It  has  been  called  a  fault  of  the  urban  commis- 
sion that  it  seems  to  put  municipal  art  in  a  niche 
by  itself,  as  a  precious  thing  indeed,  but  as  a 
luxury  which  the  citizens  may  demand  by  favor, 
not  by  right.  We  ought  to  note,  however,  that,  as 
use  makes  familiar,  a  sort  of  right  to  the  luxury 
does  come  to  be  felt,  and  the  art  commission  tends 
to  become  as  "  natural  "  a  section  of  the  adminis- 
tration as  does  the  park  commission,  for  example. 
This  is  not  so  sharp  a  turn  about  as  it  seems  in 
statement.  Analyze  the  average  taxpayer's  senti- 
ment regarding  the  park  commission,  and  it  will  be 
found  that  he  considers  the  park  a  luxury,  but  one 
that  he  has  a  right  to  be  granted  if  he  chooses  to 
demand  it.  A  like  conception  of  municipal  art 
does  not  render  irrelevant  the  criticism  of  a  course 
that  encourages  a  doubt  of  the  right  to  beauty. 
There  is  a  sharp  distinction  between  that  which  is 
a  natural  right  and  that  which  one  need  expect 
only  when  he  specifically  asks  for  it  and  pays  the 
cost.  But  it  is  something  of  a  victory  to  have 
got  away  from  the  idea  that  the  request  can  be 
refused. 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  the  conception 


Wioth  of  Officials  281 


of  municipal  art,  where  its  provision  is  left  to  a 
separate  department  of  the  city  government,  has 
ever  gone  further  than  this.  If  there  be  such  a 
place,  Paris  should  be  the  city.  Its  civic  art  is  in 
the  hands  of  a  network  of  commissions,  and  these 
extend  through  the  national  as  well  as  the  city 
government;  while  the  people  are  artistic  by  nature 
and  by  education  and  have  come  to  look  upon 
beauty  in  the  public  works  as  something  to  be  ex- 
pected in  the  natural  course  of  faithful  administra- 
tion. Paris  therefore  thought  of  municipal  art  as 
a  proper  and  normal  development  of  city  govern- 
ment before  confiding  its  care  to  commissions. 
Expert  appointments  to  the  latter  were  for  purposes 
of  consultation  and  advice,  and  the  administrative 
functions  still  remained  largely  in  the  hands  of  the 
regular  officials.  The  Commission  for  the  Decora- 
tion of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  for  instance,  is  composed 
of  thirty-two  members,  of  whom  twelve  must  be 
members  of  the  municipal  council.  Even  in  the 
Administrative  Commission  of  the  Fine  Arts,  it  is 
required  that  the  prefect  of  the  Seine,  or  his  secre- 
tary-general, and  the  heads  of  the  affected  depart- 
ments shall  be  members  ex-officio.  In  the  latter 
commission's  own  organization,  the  prefect  is  made 
president. 

Clearly,  then,  the  idea  is  that  the  eminent  paint- 
ers, sculptors,  and  architects  who  serve  on  these 
commissions  do  so  to  help  the  officials  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  regular  duties,  and  not  because  art 
is  an  exotic  which  they  alone  can  bring  into  the 
city — to  deck  it,   in  token  of  wealth  and  luxury. 


232         Umprorcment  of  ^owns  anO  Cities 


They  lend  their  expert  taste  to  foster  the  city's 
beauty,  as  great  physicians  and  bacteriologists  lend 
expert  knowledge  to  guard  its  health — the  obliga- 
tion for  the  performance  of  both  these  acts  finally 
resting  with  the  public  servants  who  are  adminis- 
trators of  the  city. 

The  theory  strikes  a  medium  course  between  the 
other  two.  It  does  not  put  explicit  faith  in 
the  competence  of  the  ordinary  official  to  guide  the 
artistic  expression  of  the  community,  nor  does  it 
deny  to  him  any  taste  whatever,  as  does  the  Amer- 
ican municipal  commission  which,  as  in  New  York, 
accords  but  one  member  to  be  representative  of  the 
city  government.  The  theory  assumes  that  art  is 
like  other  subjects  upon  which  expert  knowledge 
throws  not  the  sole,  but  a  helpful,  light.  Officials 
simply  call  in,  for  consultation,  those  who  can  sup- 
plement their  own  outlook,  which  is  from  the  stand- 
point of  practical  experience,  with  suggestions  from 
a  technical  and  purely  ideal  point  of  view.  The 
theory  is  wise  in  its  avoidance  of  extremes;  and  in 
Paris,  with  large  and  variegated  commissions,  it 
has  worked  well. 

So  we  come  to  a  middle  course,  between  the 
two  familiar  in  American  cities,  that  municipal  art 
is  a  natural  product  which  officials  are  able  to 
secure  without  expert  advice,  or  that  it  is  an  exotic 
with  which  they  are  wholly  incompetent  to  deal. 
The  theory  is  better  than  either  of  these.  The 
American  city  need  not  go  to  the  length  that  Paris 
goes,  absorbing  to  its  official  self  all  the  municipal 
art  endeavors.     Much  may  wisely  be  left  to  private 


"CClork  of  ©facials  283 


initiative.  But  taking  the  point  of  view  that  beauty 
of  town  and  city  is  as  clearly  the  residents'  right  as 
is  the  health  of  the  community  and  the  safely  of  its 
property,  such  effort  for  municipal  art  as  properly 
belongs  to  the  various  departments  of  city  admin- 
istration may  be  safely  left  to  those  departments, 
and  the  officials  thereof  held  to  account  for  the 
rich  results,  if  they  have  authority  to  supplement 
their  weakness  with  the  community's  fullest  de- 
veloped strength. 

Membership  in  an  advisory  capacity  in  these 
active  commissions  becomes  then  a  compliment. 
It  is  a  public  honor  which,  as  in  Paris,  the  greatest 
minds  are  glad  to  accept.  The  commission  itself 
is  wiser  than  if  it  were  composed  wholly  of  artists 
or  wholly  of  officials.  The  birthright  of  municipal 
art  is  acknowledged,  not  sacrificed.  The  city 
gains  because  high,  pure  dreams  of  civic  beauty 
are  controlled  by  common  sense,  and  are  striven 
toward  with  the  efficiency  of  trained  experience 
and  complete  equipment.  The  artistic  advisers, 
because  they  belong  to  the  working  committee, 
have  more  than  merely  critical  power.  They  are 
in  constant  touch  with  all  that  is  going  forward. 
Their  expert  knowledge,  their  trained  judgment, 
is  available  at  every  step;  they  can  even  originate, 
and  so  through  official  channels  the  city  makes 
swift  and  rational  progress  toward  beauty. 

Our  pathetic  makeshifts,  of  an  art  commission 
standing  aside  to  approve  or  condemn  the  plans 
that  others  make,  or  of  conscientious  officials 
gropingly      conferring     in     annual     conventions. 


284         Uniprovemcnt  of  ^owns  an5  Cities 


should  be  held,  however  encouraging,  to  be  but 
temporary  expedients.  They  are  valuable  not  so 
much  for  what  they  do  as  for  their  showing  of  what 
we  want  to  do.  Far  better  is  the  movement,  now 
spreading  rapidly,  by  which  comprehensive  plans 
for  improvement  are  secured.  A  student  of  the  sci- 
ence of  modern  city  building,  or  a  small  group  of 
experts,  is  called  in  to  advise.  They  are  outsiders,  that 
disinterestedness  may  be  assured.  A  careful  inves- 
tigation is  made  of  existing  conditions,  needs,  and 
possibilities,  and  then  a  report  is  submitted  that  be- 
comes the  town's  aesthetic  chart.  Sometimes  there 
is  recommended  a  radical  change  that  requires 
immediate  expenditure;  but  in  the  main  there  are 
mapped  out  changes  to  be  realized  slowly  through  a 
course  of  years  in  the  progress  of  regular  develop- 
ment. Of  this  each  step  can  now  be  made  to  count 
toward  the  realization  of  the  complete  scheme;  and 
there  is  at  last  evolved,  without  additional  cost  to 
the  community,  a  scientifically  planned  and  beau- 
tiful town  or  city. 


CONCLUSION 


ATTEMPT  has  been  made  in  each  foregoing 
chai)ter  to  sum  up  the  work  described  in  it, 
to  note  the  trend,  and  to  draw  conclusions.  There 
are  a  few  thoughts,  however,  that  belong  to  no 
special  chapter  because  to  no  particular  line  of 
work.  They  belong  to  all.  These  may  be  gathered 
here,  in  final  summary  of  the  varied  efforts  in  be- 
half of  city  beauty,  submitted  as  a  consideration  of 
the  aggregate  effect. 

The  first  of  these  is  re-emphasis  of  the  necessity 
for  a  suitable  foundation  upon  which  to  lay  our 
civic  adornment,  for  one  substantial,  rational, 
satisfactory.  There  is  wanted  appreciation  of  the 
futility  —  of  the  humor  and  even  of  the  pathos  —  of 
straining  for  urban  dignity  and  beauty  by  putting 
statues  on  uni)aved  streets,  by  erecting  pretty  street 
lamps  but  hideous  bridges;  of  the  folly  of  expect- 
ing city  beauty  if  good  facades  may  be  covered 
with  glaring  signs,  if  the  water-front  be  unimproved, 
the  sky-line  lost  in  clouds  of  inky  smoke.  We  need 
to  prepare  ourselves  for  negative  work  as  well  as 
positive;  for  restriction  as  well  as  encouragement; 
for  consistency  in  what  seem  minor  things. 

285 


286         flmprovement  of  ^owns  atiD  Ctttcs 


Genuine  progress  toward  beauty  of  town  and 
city  can  be  only  logical  and  harmonious.  If  the 
crusade  is  to  amount  to  anything,  it  must  begin 
with  demands  for  comfort  and  well-being  that  will 
appeal  to  all  as  reasonable.  The  wish  for  a  beauti- 
ful street  will  remain  always  visionary  until  the 
want  is  felt  of  a  good  street  and  a  clean  one. 
The  civic  Renaissance  that  broke  over  Italy  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  was  preceded  by 
such  a  rational  movement.  It  was  .in  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century  that  stone  bridges  began 
to  span  the  rivers,  and  that  streets  and  squares  of 
towns  were  paved  with  flags.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  the  cities  presented  a  "  spectacle  of  solid 
and  substantial  comfort,"  and  the  way  was  so 
prepared  for  the  Renaissance. 

Events  move  more  rapidly  to-day,  but  the  order 
of  procedure  remains  the  same.  The  requirements 
of  elementary  construction  are  still  essential  to 
ultimate  success.  Communities  that  are  going 
about  the  provision  of  adequate  water  and  sewage 
facilities,  that  are  spending  their  resources  in  the 
opening  and  paving  of  streets  and  for  keeping 
them  clean,  are  taking  the  first  steps,  even  if  un- 
consciously, toward  municipal  art.  For  this  reason 
work  for  beauty  in  cities  waits  not  for  its  beginning, 
but  for  results  that  are  distinctive  and  striking, 
until  the  "  boom  period  "  has  passed. 

The  aspiration  that  is  needed  for  an  effort  that 
demands  so  much  of  drudgery  and  of  patience  must 
be  high,  earnest,  firmly  founded,  and  widespread. 


Conclusion  287 


The  second  thought,  then,  is  that  civic  art  is  not 
an  outgrowth  only  of  fashion  and  large  gifts.  They 
may  do  much  to  make  beautiful  a  village,  but  in  a 
populous  community  the  roots  should  reach  down 
to  the  common  people,  to  the  people  who  individu- 
ally have  little  money  but  who  by  the  force  of  their 
numbers  stamp  the  public  taste  and  opinion,  to 
those  to  whom  the  city's  care  is  ultimately  com- 
mitted. There  can  be  no  exclusiveness  to  civic 
art. 

Friends  to  the  cause  of  beauty  in  the  community 
should  give  their  labor  more  than  their  money,  for 
beauty  of  village  and  town  is  not  a  thing  to  be 
bought.  A  fine  piece  of  sculpture  will  not  do  half 
as  much  as  a  little  care  and  vigilance.  A  recent 
report  of  the  municipal  department  of  the  Civic 
Club,  of  Philadelphia,  giving  results  of  contrasted 
investigations  in  the  United  States  and  Europe, 
said  of  the  former:  "  No  other  country  spends  so 
much  and  gets  so  little  for  its  money.  The  Ameri- 
can can  generally  afford  to  spend  money  better 
than  time  for  anything.''  He  thinks  he  can;  but 
the  results  show  him  to  be  mistaken.  Generosity 
in  funds  and  sordidness  in  labor  make  governments 
extravagant,  and  extravagance  is  followed  by  cor- 
ruption. No  legislation  will  give  efificient  city 
government  if  public  interest  be  lacking,  and 
municipal  art  waits  for  its  final  triumph  upon 
efficient  city  government. 

So  there  must  be  aspiration  that  is  high,  since  it 
is  to  fear  neither  patience  nor  hard  labor,  the  labor 
of  interesting  and  instructing  the  public,  of  guiding 


288        llmprovemcnt  ot  tTowns  aiiD  Cities 


its  taste,  and  the  thankless  labor  of  restrictive 
criticism.  Such  enthusiasm  may  well  demand  for 
itself  the  firm  foundation  of  belief  in  the  holiness 
of  beauty.  Looking  out  upon  the  world,  let  it  note 
that  if  sunrise  and  sunset,  if  summer  sky  and 
winter  night,  if  bending  heaven  and  up-reaching 
earth  have  beauty,  nature  giving  constant  example 
of  its  coupling  with  utility,  we  may  accept  beauty 
of  environment  as  part  of  the  divine  plan  and  fear 
to  shut  it  out  from  the  crowded  life  of  cities.  For 
can  we  say  there  is  no  holiness  of  beauty,  that  it 
has  no  essentialness  to  creation's  scheme,  when 
we  find  it  shaping  the  field  flower,  the  fern  in 
densest  forest,  or  the  spray  cap  of  a  wave  in  track- 
less seas,  lest  in  the  aeons  of  time  these  be  seen  ? 
Consider  how  the  grasses  bend  in  broken  beauty 
at  our  feet  in  virgin  country,  how  the  sky  lavishes 
its  wealth  of  glory  before  careless  eyes,  how  the 
great  trees  sway  and  call,  put  forth  tender  leaves  at 
spring  or  flaunt  an  autumn  splendor;  how  the  birds 
translate  rapture  into  music;  and  the  constant, 
changeless  stars  soothe  weary  hours  with  measure- 
less majesty.  When  God  does  this  for  a  lonely 
child,  shall  we  relax  our  vigilance  to  bring  beauty 
to  the  homes  of  huddled  thousands  ?  Dare  we  say 
that  a  city  must  be  ugly  ?  Something  very  like 
religious  fervor  can  be  put  into  the  zeal  for  city 
beauty,  sustaining  it  through  long  patience  and 
slow  work. 

It  also  appears,  in  review,  that  a  dozen  other 
practical  motives  than  religious  enthusiasm  may 
give   strength  to  the  desire  for  city  beauty.     We 


Conclusion  289 


have  seen  the  economic  argument,  in  the  attraction 
of  the  wealth  and  culture  of  the  leisure  class  and 
the  transient  trade  of  tourists.  We  have  seen  the 
philanthropic  argument,  in  the  brightening  of  the 
lives  of  the  poor;  the  educational,  in  the  instructive 
possibilities  of  outdoor  art;  the  political,  in  the 
awakening  to  civic  pride.  There  are  reasons  in 
plenty  for  the  interest  of  any  city  in  the  subject  of 
municipal  art. 

In  the  swift  review  of  the  efforts  for  civic  beauty, 
there  has  been  revealed  the  fact  that  some  places 
possess  special  advantages  over  others.  As  a  rule, 
indeed,  a  municipality  desires  the  enhancement  of 
its  beauty  or  splendor  for  selfish  reasons,  because 
beauty  will  redound  to  its  own  glory,  its  prosperity, 
to  the  happiness  of  its  people.  Rarely  does  it 
seek  a  broader  goal,  or  have  the  co-operation  and 
sympathy  of  other  communities.  Yet  occasionally 
that  happens,  and  a  nation  bends  its  energies  to 
the  beautifying  of  its  capital,  as  in  the  case  of  Paris 
and  in  some  degree  of  Washington,  in  realization 
that  the  glory  which  is  added  to  that  city  is  added 
to  the  nation,  that  this  municipality  is  representa- 
tive of  all.  A  peculiar  advantage  attaches  to  such 
cities,  which  are  of  the  elect.  As  anciently  Athens 
strode  forward,  with  the  resources  and  exhaustless 
energy  of  a  great  people  behind  her,  so  these  may 
avail  themselves  of  an  impulse  not  wholly  their 
own.  It  is  given  to  them  to  supplement  the  local 
civic  pride  and  affection  which   must  suffice  for 

other  cities. 
19 


290        Umprovemcnt  ot  ^owns  anJ)  Cities 


Or  a  community,  with  high  ideal,  may  seek  to 
represent  the  artistic  aspiration  of  the  district  in 
which  it  is,  as  Detroit  has  lately  dreamed  of  taking 
her  place  again  in  the  forefront  of  westward  spread- 
ing civilization,  by  building  a  splendid  memorial 
at  the  gateway  of  the  Northwest  lakes;  or  as  New 
York  has  dreamed  of  a  civic  monument  illustra- 
ting the  nation's  pride  in  the  prowess  of  the  navy. 
The  success  of  such  undertakings,  however,  re- 
quires an  outside  recognition  of  the  justice  of  the 
city's  claim  to  be  adequately  representative  of  the 
district.  For  the  innumerable  minor  victories  that 
go  to  make  up  civic  art,  we  have  seen  that  no  more 
incentive,  happily,  is  needed  than  local  love  and 
pride  can  easily  afford. 

The  question  arises,  What  is  to  be  the  character 
of  the  new-born  civic  art,  how  among  the  arts  is  it 
to  stand  ?  It  is  to  stand  high  and  proudly.  The 
greatest  work  of  the  past  has  always  been  that  pro- 
duced to  meet  a  public  demand,  or  that,  at  least, 
which  was  done  for  the  people.  For  them  arose  the 
temples  of  Greece,  for  them  the  mediaeval  cathe- 
drals, for  them  were  made  the  sculptured  "  Gates 
of  Paradise  "  on  the  Baptistry  of  Florence,  for 
them  have  been  executed  the  frescoes,  the  altar 
paintings,  the  public  memorials,  and  the  triumphal 
arches. 

The  artist,  working  in  his  studio  because  the 
spirit  within  him  makes  him  work  though  he  knows 
not  to  whom  the  product  may  appeal,  feels  a  new- 
inspiration  when  the  people  are  his  patron.     Give 


Conclusfon  29: 


him  a  library  or  court-house  to  decorate,  and  new- 
power  comes  into  brush  or  chisel.  The  public  that 
has  stood  idly  by,  indifferent  to  sale  or  exhibition, 
surges  through  the  artistic  structure  of  which  it  is 
an  owner,  thrilling  the  painter  or  sculptor  with  its 
new  interest  in  his  work. 

There  is  not  a  great  deal  of  public  art  in  the 
United  States;  but,  as  far  as  this  goes,  it  is  already 
the  best  art  that  we  have.  And  leading  now,  it 
will  still  lead — in  a  nation  where  art  will  yet  go  far, 
since  the  people  are  educated,  ambitious  for  art, 
are  rich,  and  free. 

It  may  be  worth  while,  in  closing,  to  differentiate 
the  civic  art,  whose  widespread  renaissance  is  now 
awaited,  from  most  of  that  which  has  preceded. 
How  it  will  differ  in  motive  from  that  with  which 
the  Medici  made  Florence  glorious!  Cosimo  de' 
Medici  is  said  to  have  expended  four  hundred 
thousand  golden  florins  on  works  of  art,  and  there 
was  not  a  civic  prince  of  Italy  who  did  not  recog- 
nize, in  that  example,  a  suggestion  of  how  to  pro- 
pitiate his  subjects  by  the  beautifying  of  a  city. 
To-day  cities  are  adorned  by  the  people  themselves, 
of  their  own  free  will,  in  love  of  home.  Mr. 
Gladstone  once  noted  Americans  as  conspicuous 
for  combining  enthusiasm  for  their  country  with 
iove  for  their  cities.  Hence  comes  the  spur  for  our 
civic  art. 

The  new  art  differs  largely  also  from  the  use  of 
art  which  the  Church  has  made,  for  this  is  to  begin 
in  practical  charity,  advancing,  as  we  have  seen, 


292         l(mpiov?ement  of  ^owiis  aiiD  Ctties 


only  through  philanthropic  and  educational  im- 
pulse to,  at  last,  "  art  for  art's  sake,"  to  the  love 
of  beauty  for  beauty's  self.  Its  original  motives 
will  be  the  best  that  the  world  has  had.  The 
moral  and  spiritual  standards  of  the  people  will  be 
advanced  by  this  art,  and  their  political  ideals  will 
rise  with  a  civic  pride  and  a  community  spirit 
born  of  the  appreciation  that  they  are  citizens  "  of 
no  mean  city." 

How  worthy  an  end,  then,  is  municipal  art  for 
individual  and  associated  effort!  Could  man  or 
woman,  woman's  club,  or  civic  organization  con- 
secrate itself  to  higher  purpose  ? '  On  how  many 
sides — moral,  physical,  intellectual,  political,  and 
economic — does  an  effort  for  beauty  in  towns  and 
cities  touch  the  welfare  of  mankind!  It  is  no  new 
dream.  The  various  civilizations  of  the  past  have 
left  in  cities  the  record  of  their  art.  We  judge 
them,  Egyptian,  Greek,  Roman,  Mediaeval,  by  the 
degree  of  their  urban  culture,  and  do  not  consider 
that  we  shall  be  judged  as  are  they.  There  only 
has  been  a  moment  of  forgetfulness.  In  the  new- 
ness of  our  country  and  the  modern  tendency  to 
commercialism,    civic   art   was   overlooked    for   a 

'  It  need  scarcely  be  said,  in  this  connection,  that  State 
Federations  of  women's  clubs  now  usually  have  committees  on 
town  and  village  improvement,  and  that  at  the  latest  biennial 
sessions  of  the  General  (National)  Federation,  some  meetings 
were  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  municipal  art  ;  also  that 
such  an  organization  as  the  Reform  Club,  New  York,  has 
lately  thought  it  worth  while  to  dedicate  complete  issues  of 
its  publication.  Municipal  Affairs,  to  the  subject  of  City 
Beauty. 


Conclusion  293 


while.  We  have  begun  now  to  remember;  and 
remembering,  let  us  strive  to  realize,  for  a  hundred 
reasons,  the  vision  of  artist  and  poet,  becon)ing 
humanity's — the  dream  of  cities  beautiful.  In  the 
Bible  itself  the  progress  of  mankind  is  represented 
as  ending  in  a  celestial  city,  after  having  begun  in 
a  garden. 

In  1899  the  Art  Workers'  Guild  of  Loudon  gave 
at  the  Guild  Hall  a  spectacle,  which  they  called  a 
revival  of  the  masque.  It  was  named  "  Beauty's 
Awakening,"  and  closed  with  a  vision  of  the 
world's  fair  cities.  One  by  one  they  came  for- 
ward, picturesque  and  many-colored,  to  be  in- 
troduced by  the  Muse  of  History.  There  was 
Thebes,  wearing  garments  of  Egyptian  blue  and 
cloth  of  gold;  Athens,  in  flowing  white  drapery, 
bearing  a  sculptured  image;  Rome,  in  the  imperial 
purple;  and  Byzantium,  in  lilac  and  gold,  and 
splendidly  crowned.  Coming  to  later  days,  we 
saw  Florence  attired  in  deep-blue,  carrying  a 
blood-red  lily;  Venice  in  crimson,  with  an  upheld 
casket  of  jewels;  Nuremberg  in  dull  red  and  yel- 
low, with  Albert  Diirer  in  her  train;  Paris  in 
gorgeous  brocade,  and  wearing  a  crown;  and 
Oxford  in  black  robe  and  scarlet  hood.  Last  of 
all  was  London,  bearing  about  her  the  tokens  of 
wealth,  but  with  her  train  sadly  soiled. 

It  is  in  laying  to  heart  the  lesson  of  this  allegory, 
through  turning  to  account  the  great  riches,  the 
mighty  impulses  of  philanthropy  and  education,  the 
high  sanitary  ideal,  and  the  resources  of  modern 
science  and  engineering,  that  men  and  women  are 


294         llmprovcmcnt  of  Cowns  anO  Cities 

to-day  setting  about  the  purging  of  London's  gown, 
with  a  trust  in  ultimate  success;  that  modern  cities 
hope  to  take  their  place  with  the  little  Thebes  and 
Athens  and  Florence  of  long  ago. 

In  the  world-wide  civic  battle  between  Ugliness 
and  Beauty,  consider  what  allies  have  now  been 
gathered  to  Beauty's  side.  To  spur  on  these 
allied  forces  to  new  confidence  and  endeavor  the 
present  record  of  the  combat  has  been  compiled. 


APPENDIX 


MASSACHUSETTS 


AN   ACT    TO   CODIFY    AND   AMEND   THE    LAWS   RELA- 
TIVE   TO    THE    PRESERVATION    OF    TREES 
[acts    of    1899,    CHAPTER    330] 

Be  it  enacted,  etc. ,  as  follows  : 

Section  i.  Every  town  shall  at  its  annual 
meeting  for  the  election  of  town  officers  elect  a 
tree  warden,  who  shall  serve  for  one  year  and  until 
his  successor  is  elected  and  qualified.  He  may 
appoint  such  number  of  deputy  tree  wardens  as  he 
deems  expedient,  and  may  at  any  time  remove 
them  from  office.  He  and  his  deputies  shall  re- 
ceive such  compensation  for  their  services  as  the 
town  may  determine,  and,  in  default  of  such 
determination,  as  the  selectmen  may  prescribe. 
He  shall  have  the  care  and  control  of  all  public 
shade  trees  in  the  town,  except  those  in  public 
parks  or  open  places  under  the  jurisdiction  of  park 
commissioners,  and  of  these  also  he  shall  take  the 
care  and  control  if  so  requested  in  writing  by  the 
park  commissioners.  He  shall  expend  all  funds 
appropriated  for  the  setting  out  and  maintenance 
of  such  trees.  He  may  prescribe  such  regulations 
for  the  care  and  preservation  of  such  trees,  enforced 
by  suitable  fines  and  forfeitures,  not  exceeding 
twenty  dollars  in  any  one  case,  as  he  may  deem 
just  and  expedient;  and  such  regulations,  when 
approved  by  the  selectmen  and  posted  in  two  or 

295 


296         ITmprovemcnt  of  ^ovvns  anJ)  Cities 


more  public  places  in  the  town,  shall  have  the  force 
and  effect  of  town  by-laws.  It  shall  be  his  duty 
to  enforce  all  provisions  of  law  for  the  preservation 
of  such  trees. 

Section  2.  Towns  may  appropriate  annually  a 
sum  of  money,  not  exceeding  in  the  aggregate  fifty 
cents  for  each  of  its  ratable  polls  in  the  preceding 
year,  to  be  expended  by  the  tree  warden  in  plant- 
ing shade  trees  in  the  public  ways,  or,  if  he  deems 
it  expedient,  upon  adjoining  land,  at  a  distance 
not  exceeding  twenty  feet  from  said  public  ways, 
for  the  purpose  of  shading  or  ornamenting  the 
same  :  pr-ovided^  howcvei'^  that  the  written  consent 
of  the  owner  of  such  land  shall  first  be  obtained. 
All  shade  trees  within  the  limits  of  any  public  way 
shall  be  deemed  public  shade  trees. 

Section  3.  Whoever,  other  than  a  tree  warden 
or  his  deputy,  desires  the  cutting  or  removal,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  of  any  public  shade  tree,  may 
apply  to  the  tree  warden,  who  shall  give  a  public 
hearing  upon  the  application  at  some  suitable  time 
and  place,  after  duly  posting  notices  of  the  hearing 
in  two  or  more  public  places  in  the  town,  and  also 
upon  the  said  tree  :  provided,  however,  that  the 
warden  may,  if  he  deems  it  expedient,  grant  per- 
mission for  such  cutting  or  removal,  without  calling 
a  hearing,  if  the  tree  in  question  is  on  a  public  way 
outside  of  the  residential  part  of  the  town,  the 
limits  of  such  residential  part  to  be  determined  by 
the  selectmen.  No  tree  within  such  residential 
part  shall  be  cut  by  the  tree  warden,  except  to 
trim  it,  or  removed  by  him  without  a  hearing  as 
aforesaid;  but  in  all  cases  the  decision  of  the  tree 
warden  shall  be  final. 

Section  4.  Towns  may  annually  raise  and 
appropriate  such  sum  of  money  as  they  deem 
necessary,  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of 
the  tree  warden  in  exterminating  insect  pests  within 
the  limits  of  their  public  ways  and  places,  and  in 


appcnOij  297 


the  removal  from  said  public  ways  and  places  of 
all  trees  and  other  i)lants  upon  which  such  pests 
naturally  breed:  provided,  however,  that  where  an 
owner  or  lessee  of  real  estate  shall,  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  tree  warden,  annually  exterminate  all 
insect  pests  upon  the  trees  and  other  plants  within 
the  limits  of  any  public  way  or  place  abutting  on 
said  real  estate,  such  trees  and  plants  shall  be  ex- 
empt from  the  provisions  of  this  section. 

Section  5.  Whoever  affixes  to  any  tree  in  a 
public  way  or  place  a  play-bill,  ])icture,  announce- 
ment, notice,  advertisement,  or  other  thing,  whether 
in  writing  or  otherwise,  or  cuts,  paints,  or  marks 
such  tree,  except  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  it 
and  under  a  written  permit  from  the  tree  warden, 
shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  fifty 
dollars  for  each  offence. 

Section  6.  Whoever  wantonly  injures,  defaces, 
breaks  or  destroys  an  ornamental  or  shade  tree 
within  the  limits  of  any  public  way  or  place  shall 
forfeit  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  one  hundred 
dollars,  to  be  recovered  by  complaint,  one  half  to 
the  complainant  and  the  other  half  to  the  use  of 
the  town. 

Section  7.  Whoever  negligently  or  carelessly 
suffers  a  horse  or  other  beast  driven  by  or  for  him, 
or  a  beast  belonging  to  him  and  lawfully  in  a  public 
way  or  place,  to  break  down,  injure,  or  destroy  a 
shade  or  ornamental  tree  within  the  limits  of  said 
public  way  or  place,  or  whoever  negligently  or 
wilfully  by  any  other  means  breaks  down,  injures, 
or  destroys  any  such  tree,  shall  be  liable  to  the 
penalties  prescribed  in  the  foregoing  section,  and 
shall  in  addition  be  liable  for  all  damages  caused 
thereby. 

Section  8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  tree 
warden  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  the  preceding 
sections.     [^Approved  May  4,  iiSgg] 


ADDENDA 

Note  to  Pg.  II. 

Boston's  improvement  of  the  Charles  has  passed 
from  the  stage  of  discussion  to  that  of  execution. 
The  result  reverses  the  municipal  custom  of  many 
years  and  will  well  repay  study. 

Note  to  Pg.  )6. 

In  the  building  of  the  new  East  River  bridges, 
since  the  first  edition  of  this  book  was  printed, 
careful  thought  of  appearances  did  develop,  re- 
quirement being  made  that  designs  be  approved  by 
the  Municipal  Art  Commission. 

Note  to  Pg.  6g. 

Legislation  on  this  point  has  increased  in  the 
United  States.  St.  Louis  adopted  an  ordinance 
making  150  feet  the  maximum  height;  Chicago  put 
the  limit  in  1898  at  130  feet;  the  smaller  city  of 
Springfield,  Mass.,  has  put  it  at  100  feet;  Wash- 
ington proportions  building  height  to  street  width; 
and  Boston  created  two  building  districts,  business 
and  residential,  putting  the  limit  in  the  former  at 
1 25  feet,  and  in  the  latter  at  80  feet,  except  on  espe- 
cially wide  thoroughfares.  These  limits  seem  high 
compared  to  Europe's,  but  it  is  something  new  in 
America  to  have  any  limit  imposed. 

299 


300  HDDenOa 


Note  to  Pg.  76. 

The  law  has  been  enacted.  Discussion  of  con- 
tinued progress,  both  restrictive  and  creative,  in 
dealing  with  advertisements,  may  be  found  in  arti- 
cles by  the  author  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
March,  1904,  and  July,  1904. 

IVoie  to  Pg.  104. 

This  department  has  already  become  of  historical 
interest  as  the  forerunner  of  many  departments — 
and  even  of  whole  exhibitions — devoted  to  the 
physical  improvement  of  cities.  Dresden  came 
first,  in  1903,  with  a  national  Municipal  Exhibit; 
but  municipal  exhibits  of  national  and  international 
character  have  come  fast  since  then  in  many  coun- 
tries. And  following  the  lead  (1905)  of  Chicago, 
permanent  Municipal  Museums  have  been  opened 
in  several  American  cities. 
Not^  to  Pg.  161. 

The  $100,000  mark  was  reached  in  1902,  and  in 
1906    the   fund   exceeded  $120,000.     At  the  end 
of  1912  the  total  of  the  various   funds   exceeded 
$160,000. 
Note  to  Pg.  162. 

In  1904  The  American  Park  and  Outdoor  Art 
Association  was  merged  with  the  American  League 
for  Civic  Improvement  (Pg.  262)  under  the  title 
American  Civic.Association  (headquarters  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C),  and  its  objects  were  broadened  to 
include  those  of  the  League. 
Note  to  Pg.  168. 

The  Philadelphia  "Parkway  Project,"  as  it  is 
called,  only  slightly  modified  and  very  costly,  is 
now  in  course  of  realization. 


RODcnDa  301 


Noti  to  Pg.  182. 

A  more  recently  developed  series  of  Chicago 
playgrounds,  combining  park  and  playground  fea- 
tures, having  elaborate  "field  houses"  and  strongly 
emphasizing  beauty,  are  considered  the  most  ef- 
ficient in  the  world. 

Note  to  Pg.  24J. 

Since  this  book  first  appeared  the  high  ideals  and 
civic  spirit  of  many  teachers  have  created  a  place 
in  numerous  schools  for  the  subjects  of  this  volume. 

Note  to  Pg.  261. 

The  Guild  of  Civic  Art  later  prepared  a  general 
plan  of  improvement  for  the  city  of  Toronto,  work- 
ing this  out  on  scientific  and  artistic  lines,  with  the 
idea  that  the  city  in  developing  should  strive  for 
this  ideal.  In  so  doing,  the  Guild  did  what  many 
other  cities — as  Harrisburg,  Detroit,  Columbus, 
Denver,  San  Francisco,  Oakland,  Honolulu,  etc., 
— have  ordered  done,  with  usually  better  chances 
of  success,  by  experts  from  outside. 

Note  to  Pg.  263. 

This  commission  was  appointed  in  1901,  and  is 
now  well  known  by  students  of  civic  progress.  Its 
notable  success  did  much  to  encourage  the  making 
of  "  expert  plans  "  for  cities. 


INDEX 


Advertisements,  dealing  with  the  problem :  in  Belgium 
(methods  of  L'G<^uvre  Nationale  Beige),  77-78,  8S-go ;  in 
Berlin,  81,  85  ;  in  Boston.  82  ;  in  Edinburgh,  79,  86  note  ; 
in  Glasgow,  79  ;  in  Leiden,  8t  ;  in  London,  80,  83  ;  in 
Paris,  81,  84,  87,  106;  in  Rome,  82,  in  various  English 
cities,  80  ;  made  a  source  of  municipal  income,  84,  85  ;  pos- 
sibilities of  beauty,  87-go ;  put  on  the  trees,  76,  127  ;  re- 
strictive ordinances  in  the  United  States,  76,  77;  work  of 
"SCAPA,"  78-80 

Aiken  (S.  C),  125 

Albany  (N.Y.),  13,  117,  215 

American  League  for  Civic  Improvement,  262 

American  Park  and  Outdoor  Art  Association,  162 

American  Society  of  Landscape  Architects,  267 

American  Society  of  Municipal  Improvements,  273 

Amsterdam,  14 

Antwerp,  8,  95,  196  note,  205,  212 

Arbor  Day  in  the  United  States,  opportunities  of,  123,  184 

Arc  de  Triomphe  (Paris),  25,  220 

Architects,  So,  97-99,  192,  264-265  ;  American  Institute  of, 
265 

Architectural  Club,  of  Chicago,  160,  215  ;  of  Milwaukee,  215  ; 
of  Pittsburg,  215 

Architectural  League,  of  America,  215,  265-266 ;  of  New 
York,  9.  26,  note 

Architecture,  186-215  ;  dependence  on  site,  206-210;  expres- 
sion of  character,  186-1S8,  210-211,  213-214;  importance 
to  the  town,  186  ;  inharmoniousness  in  American  cities,  67  ; 
instruction  in,  241,  242  ;  landscape,  q.  v.  ;  of  public  build- 
ings, 188,  190,  191-193  ;  recent,  190,  191  note  ;  see  also 
Building  Regulations 

Art,  235,  251,  252,  263,  281-283,  287,  290-292  ;  see  also  Mu- 
ral Painting,  Sculpture,  etc.  ;  instruction  in,  216,  239-252 

Art  Commission,  see  Municipal  and  National 

303 


304  "ffn&ej 

Art  Federation,  of  Philadelphia,  260,  261,  264,  268 
"Art  for  Schools"  movement,  185,  197,  198,  245 
Art  galleries,  245,  247-251 
Art  schools,  196,  note,  246-247,  250,  251 
Art  societies,  160-162,  201,  226,  260-261,  263-269,  293  ;  co- 
.'    operation  between,  201,  225,  226,   232,267;  co-operation 

with  lay  societies,  269  ;  see  also  Municipal  Art  Societies 
Art  Workers'  Guild,  of  London,  293 
Asphalt,  40-42 

Athens,  3,  17,  187,  240,  289,  293 
Avignon,  3 

B 

Bacon,  Sir  Francis,  on  gardening.  151 

Baltimore,  Municipal  Art  Commission,  35,  225,  277  ;  Muni- 
cipal Art  Society,  107,  109,  197,  245  ;  pavements,  40 ;  play- 
grounds, 182 

Band  stands,  174,  212 

Beauty,  for  towns  and  cities:  not  something  to  be  superim- 
posed, 170;  rational  progress  toward,  41,  49,  73-75,  269- 
270,  271,  280-283,  285,  286  ;  right  to  it,  271-272,  277,  280- 
283  ;  the  aspiration  for  it,  286-290,  291,  292 

Belgium,  64,  77,  88-go,  204  ;  see  also  Antwerp,  Brussels,  etc. 

Berkeley  neighborhood  (Cal.),  29 

Berlin,  263  ;  advertisements  in,  81,  85  ;  bridges,  236  ;  build- 
ing laws,  66  ;  public  buildings,  27  ;   Unter  den  Linden,  52, 

135 
Birmingham,  65,  195,  247,  248,  249 
Boston,  198,  212,  218,  225,  241,  245,  266  ;  advertisements  in, 

82  ;  building  laws,  69-70  ;  Charles  River  treatment,  11,  37, 

166  ;  the  Common,  162,  180  ;  Commonwealth  Avenue,  1 17, 
168  ;  Municipal  Art  Commission,  225,  276  ;  Music  Commis- 
sion, 72  ;  parks  in,  23,  153,  157  ;  playgrounds  in,  179,  182  ; 
State  House,  198,  201  ;  trees  in,  117,  128  ;  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury Club,  q.  V. 

Boulevards,  23,  24,   168-170;  of  Brussels,  24;  of  Paris,  23, 

"9.  135,  136,  169 
Bridges,  importance  and  possibility  of  beauty  in,  34-39,  165, 

215  ;  a  site  for  sculpture,  227,  235,  236 
Broerman,  Eugene,  100,  loi 
Brooklyn,    141,    166,   254;   Brooklyn    Bridge,   36;  parkways, 

167  ;  Tree  Planting  and  Fountain  Society,  123,  124,  126, 
128-129,  140;  Woman's  Club,  176,  261 

Brussels,  i,  4,  24,  97,  102,  103,  204 
Budapest,  11,  13,  note 
Buffalo,  16,  127,  273 


Building  regulations,  in  Belgium,  64;  in  Berlin,  bCy;  in  i5ir- 
minghani,  65  ;  in  lioston,  69-70;  in  Paris,  64,  97—99,  203, 
213  ;  in  Rome,  65  ;  in  Vienna,  65  ;  limiting  height  in  Amer- 
ica, ()"],  G9  ;   on  property  facing  parks,  67 

Buildings,  see  Public  Buildings 


Canals,  14,  15 

Carlsruhe,  26 

Carting,  of  ashes,  dirt,  eU.,  49 

Chicago,  advertisements  in,  77  ;  cosmopolitanism,  210  ;  lake- 
front,  4,  16,  167  ;  Municipal  Art  Society,  107  ;  parks,  23, 
156,  160;  playgrounds,  179,  182;  street  cleaning,  46,47, 
260  ;  street  names,  32  ;  see  also  59,  225,  228,  246,  255,  260 

Chicago  Woman's  Club,  176 

Chinese,  84  note 

Cincinnati,  46,  76,  107,  loS,  197 

Citizens'  Association,  of  Chicago,  59,  260 

City  Planning,  iv,  31,  242 

City  and  Suburban  Homes  Co.,  of  New  York,  139 

City  Improvement  Society,  of  Denver  (Col.),  129,  184,  243, 
256  ;  of  Hamilton  (Out.),  147,  257  ;  of  New  York,  73,  259 

City,  origin  and  growth  of,  237-239 

Civic  Center,  of  Washington,  31 

Civic  Club,  of  Hartford  (Conn.),  46  ;  of  Philadelphia,  128, 
246,  287 

Civic  Federation,  of  Chicago,  46,  47,  260 

Cleaning  of  streets,  42-51  ;  methods  cited  :  Chicago,  46,  47  ; 
Cincinnati,  46  ;  Glasgow,  43  ;  Hartford,  46  ;  Lowell,  47  ; 
Munich,  48  ;  New  York,  47-48  ;  Paris,  43  ;  San  Franciseo, 

45 
Cleveland,  Home  Gardening  Association,  148  ;  improvement 

clubs,  256  ;   Municipal  Art   League,  107,   109,  264  ;  parks, 

16,  159  ;  public  buildings,  27 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  21 

Coal  Smoke  Abatement  Society,  of  London,  59-60 
Cobblestone  paving,  40 
Cockburn   Association,  of  Edinburgh,  79,  87  note,  128,  141, 

258 
Coler,  Bird  S.,  9 

Color  in  the  streets,  92,  111-112,  132 
Columbian  Exposition,  145,  192 
Commercial  Club,  of  Indianapolis,  40 
Commission  du  Vieux  Paris,  203-204 
Commons  and  Footpaths  Preservation  Society,  of   London, 

164 
Connecticut  State  Agricultural  Society,  130 


io6  llnOcj 


Copley  Square  (Boston),  69-70 

Cottage  Garden  Societies,  147 

County  Council,  of  London,  35,  80 

Culture  Extension  League,  of  Philadelphia,  181 

D 

Dayton  (O.),  14Q 

Demolitions,  208 

Denver  (Col.),  130,  184,  243,  256,  270 

Detroit,  133  note,  220,  234,  2zi4,  290 

Donatello's  statues,  217 

Duluth  (Minn.),  16,  117 


Edinburgh,  advertisements  in,  79,  86  note  ;  Cockbum  Associ- 
ation, q.  V.  ;  trees  in,  128,  141 

Electricity  an  aid  to  city  beauty,  6,  51-52,  60,  134,  138,  139 

Elevation  in  site,  its  treatment,  3,  4,  16,  17 

Evanston  (111.),  109 

Exedra,  228 

Expositions,  145,  192,  267  ;  of  paving,  41  ;  of  public  art,  94, 
103 


Fairmount  Park  Art   Association,  of  Philadelphia,   160-162, 

235  ;  City  Branch  of,  176,  234 
Fences,  removal  of,  140,  141 
Field,  Cyrus  W.,  140 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  169,  254 
Fine  Arts  Federation,  of  New  York,  201,  224,  267,  279 
Flags,  112,  181 
Florence,  239,  290,  291,  293;  architecture  in,    187,  188-189, 

214,  264  ;  Ponte  Vecchio,  37  ;  river  treatment,  11  ;  sculpture 

of,  217,  227,  264  ;  street  art  in,  95,  217 
Focus,  in  street  plan,  24-25  ;  railroad  station  as,  28 
Forester,  employment  of,  116,  121,  12S-130,  295-297 
Formalism  for  city  "squares,"  173-175 
Fountain,  212,  213,  227  ;  in  playground,  181  ;  of  St.  Michel, 

Paris,  99,  228 


Garden  City,  29 

Gardens,  140-142,  148-150  ;  see  also  Window  Boxes 

Genesee  Valley  Forestry  Association,  of  Rochester,  127 


UnOci  307 


Genoa,  8.  177,  228 

Chent,  208 

Cllailstone,  William  E.,  291 

Glasgovi',  43.  79,  147,  249 

(Government  of   cities,  44,  47,    121-122,  250,   260,  271-272, 

287  ;  see  also  Massachusetts  State  Laws,  New  York  ibiJ., 

ordinances,  etc. 
Guilds,  95,  264 

H 

Hahnemann  statue,  Washington,  226 

Hamilton,  Canada,  147,  257 

Hartford  (Conn.),  Civic  Club,  46  ;  parks,  159  ;  soldiers'  monu- 
ment, 37  ;  street  cleaning,  46 

Harvard  University,  242 

Haussmann,  18,  207 

Hearst,  Mrs.  Phrebe,  209  note 

"  Ilinksey  Diggers."  175 

Historical  Societies,  opportunities  for  aiding  civic  beauty,  206, 
232,  233 

House-fronts,  encouraging  beauty  in,  96-99 

Hudson  River,  cities  on,  14  ;  see  also  Albany 

Hygiene  and  Sanitation,  inlluence  upon  city  building  of  mod- 
ern ideas  in,  20,  21,  30,  41,  43,  53-54,  61,  63,  72,  74,  75. 
130,  131,  132,  137,  151,  210 


Improvement  Associations,  general,   256,   see  societies  under 

their  own   names  ;   national,   262  ;   neighborhood,   254-257  ; 

see  alsoCity  Improvement  Society  and  Village  Improvement 

Societies 
Indianapolis,    Commercial   Club,    40 ;   street   plan,    25  ;  tree 

planting,  127 
Institutional  structures,  193 


Japanese  Ivy,  143-144 

Jersey  City,  178 

Juvenile  Street  Cleaning  Leagiies,  47,  48,  49 

K 

Kansas  City,  127,  148 

Kiosks,  of  Paris,  105 

Kyrle  Societies  (England),  147,  196 


3o8  InDej 


Landscape  architecture,  140,  149,  242,  267  ;  in  parks,  154, 
165  ;  in  playgrounds,  180,  181  ;  in  "squares,"  173-176  ;  see 
also  Gardens 

Laurel  Hill  Association,  of  Stockbridge  (Mass.),  124 

Lavatories,  105,  212,  213 

League  of  American  Municipalities,  273-274 

League  for  Social  Service,  241 

Lectures  on  town  and  city  improvement,  243-244,  251 

J.eiden,  81 

L'Enfant,  18,  20 

Lift  bridges,  39,  note 

Lighting  of  streets,  51,  52;  rendering  apparatus  beautiful, 
102,  103,  106 

Lincoln  Statue,  New  York,  218 

Liverpool,  8,  80,  147,  249 

L'CEuvre  Nationale  Beige.  100-102  ;  dealing  with  advertise- 
ment problem,  78,  8S-90  ;  its  exhibition  of  public  art,  103  ; 
prizes  for  beautiful  facades,  97  ;  prizes  for  beauty  in  public 
utilities,  102-104,  213 

London,  advertisements  in,  80,  83  ;  art  exhibitions,  249 ; 
Bethnal  Green,  25  note;  bridges,  35,  38;  color  in,  112, 
145  ;  former  conditions,  54 ;  house-fronts,  96,  145  ;  mural 
painting,  195,  196  ;  parks,  163,  220;  playgrounds,  178.  181, 
182  ;  site,  I  ;  smoke  abatement,  59,  note,  60 ;  societies,  etc., 
35,  59,  128,  164,  178,  182,  196,  202,  203,  213,  293; 
"squares,"  142;  street  names,  32,  33;  suburbs,  29,  163; 
street  plan,  20,  26,  208  ;  trees,  128,  182,  183  ;  Victoria  Em- 
bankment, 4,  11-12,  13 

Luxury,  189,  190,  193,  199 

M 

Manchester,   advertisements   in,    80 ;    art   gallery,    249 ;   art 

school,  247  ;  smoke,  59,  74 
Marseilles,  3,  8 

Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society,  185 
Massachusetts,  State  laws,  77,  130,  179,  Appendix 
Medici,  de',  239,  291 

Merchants'  Association,  of  San  Francisco,  45 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New  York,  245 
Metropolitan  Public  Gardens  Association,  London,  128,  178, 

182-183,  213 
Milan,  23,  207 
Milwaukee,  215 
Minneapolis,  117,  148,  185 
Montreal,  3 


linger  309 


Morris,  William,  202 

Munich,  48,  50  note 

Municipal  Art  Commissions,  35,  213,  223-225,  235,271,  275- 

277,  280,  282-284 
Municipal  Art  Societies,  107-I10,  196-197,  198,  213,  232,  245, 

260,  261,  264 
Mural  Painters,  National  Society  of,  266,  267 
Mural  Painting;,  194-197,  198,  199 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  245 
Music  Commission,  Boston,  72 


N 

National  Art  Commission,  277-280 

National  Arts  Club,  268 

National  Sculpture  Society,  226,  266 

Nelson  Column,  London,  218,  228 

New  Haven  (Conn.),  3,  115,  162,  167 

New  Orleans,  32,  259 

New  York,  Art  Commission,  35,  224,  225,  276—277  ;  bridges, 
36,  236  ;  house-fronts,  96  ;  Municipal  Art  Society,  107,  108, 
197,  198;  noise,  73;  parks,  153,  15S,  230;  parkways,  166, 
167,  169;  pavements,  40,  41  ;  playgrounds,  179,  iSi  ;  pub- 
lic buildings,  193,  197,  201,  206,  245,  266;  sculpture,  218, 
220,  228,  229,  230-231,  232,  267,  290;  site,  2;  street 
cleaning,  47,  48  ;  street  names,  32  ;  street  plan,  18,  21,  22, 
24  ;  tree  planting,  117,  126  ;  water-frowt,  7-10,  16  ;  see  ahe 
societies  under  their  own  names 

New  York  County  Medical  Society,  130 

New  York  State  laws,  22,  117,  179,  235 

New  York  Street  Commission,  21,  22 

Niagara  Falls,  6,  7,  16 

Noise,  72,  259,  260 

North  A'Jams  (Mass.),  125 


Oakland  (Cal.),  257 

Ocean  Parkway,  Brooklyn,  167 

Ordinances,  see  Subjects 

Outdoor  Recreation  League,  New  Yerk,  183 


Paris,  advertisements  in,   81,  84,  87,  106;  boulevards,  q.  i'.  j 
bridges,  37,  38,  235  ;  building  laws,  64,  97-99.   203,  213 


3IO  UnDcj 


cabs,  71  ;  public  art,  99,  104-107,  194,  218,  223,  228,  235, 
246,  280-282  ;  public  buildings,  27,  194  ;  street  cleaning, 
43 ;  street  plan,  23,  135,  136,  203,  206  ;  treatment  of 
Seine,  11,  12;  trees  in,  118-120,  135 

Park  Commission,  14,  117,  122,  131,  2S0 

Parking,  136-139,  141 

Park  Memorial  Tree  Association,  of  Indianapolis,  127 

Parks,  3,  4,  153-165.  170,  207;  approaches  to,  167-168; 
chain  system  of,  156-159;  demand  for,  153  ;  gifts  for,  159, 
161  ;  influence  of,  154,  158,  170  ;  landscape  treatment  of, 
154.  165;  location  of,  153,  155-156;  of  Boston,  23,  153, 
157;  of  Chicago,  23,  156;  of  England,  163-165;  of  New 
York,  153,  158;  of  Springfield  (Mass.),  159;  on  water- 
front, 13,  15  ;  regulation  of  adjacent  property,  67,  77 ; 
sculpture  in,  161,  227,  229-231 

Parkways,  77,  1C5-170 

Paving,  39-42,  71,  260 

Philadelphia,  art  efforts,  246,  and  see  Art  Federation  and  Fair- 
mount  Park  Art  Association  ;  City  Hall,  208  ;  playgrounds, 
179,  181;  projected  parkway,  168;  societies,  ^r^r.,  j^^  under 
their  own  names  ;  street  plan,  21,  30  ;  trees,  128  ;  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  160,  228  ;  water-front,  10 

Piraeus,  19 

Pisa,  II 

Pittsburg,  61,  215 

Playgrounds,  :78-i84,  185 

Plaza,  23,  177  ;  see  also  "  Squares" 

Politics,  44,  47,  121-122,  260 

Posters,  91-92 

Preservation  of  old  buildings,  200,  201-206 

Providence  (R.  I.),  26,  177 

Public  Art  League,  278-279 

Publications  concerning  civic  affairs,  275 

Public  buildings,  188,  190,  193,  194-197,  205,  248,  see  also 
under  New  York,  Paris,  etc,\  grouping  of,  24,  26-28,  31,  279 


Railroad  property,  26,  28,  149,  177 

Rapid  transit,  134,  138,  139 

Reform  Club,  of  New  York,  241,  292  note 

Regensburg,  Valhalla  at,  220 

Riverside  Drive  (New  York),  167 

Rochester  (N.  Y.),  5,  66,  117,  127,  184,  255 

Rome,  advertisements  in,  82  ;  ancient,  17,  53,  187,  240;  build. 

ing  laws,  65  ;  piazza  of  St.   Peter's,  14  ;  Pincian  Hill,  3  j 

treatment  of  the  Tiber,  ii,  12 


UnOcj  3" 


Rosettes,  for  trolley  wires,  56 

Royal  Institute  of  British  Architects,  35 

Ruskin,  John,  131,  175.  198 


San  Francisco,  31,  45.  226,  235 

Sanitation,  see  Hygiene 

Savannah  (Ga.),  116 

"  SCAPA,"  78-80,  82-S4 

School  children,  instruction  in  gardening,  148,  184-185  ;    as 

street  cleaners,  see  Juvenile 
School  yards,  149,  1B4-185 
Scranton  (Penn.),  159 

Sculpture,  216-237,  290;  criticism  of,  221-226;  educational 
value  of.  217-219,  221,  222  ;  for  parks,  161,  227.  229-231  ; 
for  streets,  168,  228  ;  historical,  219,  220,  232,  233  ;  placing 
•  of,  227,  229-233  ;  symbolical,  217,  218 
Shaw,  Dr.  Albert,  13,  note,  31,  note,  53 
Shaw  Memorial  (Boston),  21S,  234 
Sheridan  Drive  (Chicago),  167 
Sidewalk,  140;  obstructions  on,  51,  259 
Signs,  see  Advertisements  ;  rebus,  90 
Site,  adjustment  to,  16  ;  influence  of,  on  buildings,  206-210;  on 

statues,  226-233  ;  on  towns.  2,  19  ;  irregularities  of,  3 
Sky-scraper,  31,  67-69,  187 

Smoke,  suppression  of,  57-6°.  260 ;  injury  of,  60-63 
Snow  removal,  in  New  York,  47.  48 
Society  for  the  Protection  of  Ancient  Buildings,  of  London, 

202 
Speedways,  166  ^ 

Springfield  (Mass.),  I59 
"  Squares,"  22,  150,  172-178,  179,  207  ;  landscape  treatment, 

173-175 ;  London,  142 
State  Leagues  of  Municipalities,  274,  275 
Statues,   49,    218,  236,  see  also  Sculpture ;   dependence   on 

site,  226-232 
St.  Louis,  127,  138,  159 
Stockbridge  (Mass.),  124 
Street  cleaning,  see  Cleaning 
Street  lighting,  see  Lighting 
Street  names,  32,  33 
Street  paving,  see  Paving 
Street  plan,   18-31,   173:  ideal,  23-25;    New  York,   21,   22 

31  ;  suburban,  28,  29  ;  Vienna,  22-23  ;  Washington,  20 
Suburbs,  18,  28-30,  138,  139,  210 


312  tn^ex 


Tenements,  210-212 

Thames  Preservation  League,  of  London,  164 

Toronto,  261 

Traffic,  street  provision  for,   20,  21,  23,  24,  26;   regulation 

of,  71 
Tree  Planting  Societies,  123,  126-128,  140 
Trees,   113-131,   135,   270,  Appendix;    culture  of,  in  Pans, 

118-120,   135;  in  charge  of  Park  Commissions,  117,  T31  ; 

in  charge  of  Tree  Commissions,  116,  121,  122  ;  neglected  in 

cities,  114;  ownership  theories,  115-117,  122  ;  requirements 

for  cities,  120-122  ;  sanitary  value,  130-131 
Trolley,  138,  139,  see  Rapid  Transit ;  poles,  56,  104 
Twentieth  Century  Club,  of  Boston,  82,  241,  244 

U 

Uniformed  street  cleaners,  46,  50 

University,  242,  243  ;  Columbia,  243  ;  of  California,  209  ;  01 

Harvard,  242  ;  of  Pennsylvania,  160,  228  ;  Yale,  209 
Unter  den  Linden  (Berlin),  52,  135 

V 

Vegetation,  in  cities,  1 32-1 51 

Vehicles,  71 

Venice,  i,  27,  95,  217,  239,  293 

Victoria  Embankment  (London),  4,  II,  12,  13 

Vienna,  building  laws,  65  ;  site,  i  ;  street  plan,  22-23,  24 

Village  Improvement  Societies,  124,  125,  140,  241,  263 

Vines,  I43-I44 

Vista,  12,  19,  24,  156 

W 

Waring,  Col.  George  E.,  47,  50.  243 

Washington  Arch  (New  York),  25,  220,  234 

Washington,  cabs,  71  ;  development  of,  279,  289  ;  memorial 

bridge,  36,  37  ;  paving,  40  ;  public  buildings,  4,  20,  31,  199, 

201,  266  ;  site,  I  ;  street  names,  32  ;  street  plan,  20,  21,  31 ; 

street  trees,  116,  120 
Washington  Monument  (Philadelphia),  228,  234 
Waste  cans,  46,  49  .     ,  1 

Water-front,  its  treatment,  4-16,  17  ;  of  navigable  stream,  7- 

15  ;  of  power  stream,  5-7 
Window  boxes,  145-148 


HiiDej  313 

Wires,  burial  of,  55-57 

Women,  as  street  cleaners,  47 

Women's  Clubs,  46,  47,  128,  176,  178,  243,  261,  262,  270,  Z92 

note 
Wrenn,  Sir  Christopher,  20 


y^ork  (Penn.),  160 


Modern  Civic  Art 

The  Citv  Made  Beautiful 


By  Charles  Mulford  Robinson 
Author  of  "  Improvement  of  Towus  and  Cities,"  etc. 

Octavo.    Third  Revised  Edition.    With  30  Full- 
page  Illustrations. 
Net  $3.00     (By  Mail,  $3.25) 

i'PjROBABLY  no  American  has  thought  more  on  the  subject  of 
*  the  beautifying  of  cities,  or  thought  to  better  effect,  than  has 
Charles  Mulford  Robinson.  His  first  book,  'The  Improvement  of 
Towns  and  Cities,'  gave  the  greatest  impetus  to  the  now  widespread 
movement  for  civic  beauty  that  it  has  yet  received  in  this  country. 
His  occasional  articles  since  have  contributed  vastly  to  information, 
delight,  and  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  learned  that 
the  places  where  men  live  are  worthy  of  love  and  care."  —  Philadel- 
phia Ledger. 

"It  is  difficult  to  name  any  movement  for  the  bettering  of  mu- 
nicipal  conditions  that  is  of  greater  importance,  or  shows  more  likeli- 
hood of  success,  than  that  of  which  Mr.  Charles  Mulford  Robinson's 
new  book,  'Modem  Civic  Art,'  is  the  latest  exponent.  There  is 
hardly  a  matter  concerning  the  adornment  of  the  city,  the  convenience 
and  comfort  of  the  people  as  a  whole,  that  is  not  discussed.  To  give 
force  to  suggestions  concrete  examples  are  given,  for,  luckily,  there 
is  scarcely  a  possible  improvement  of  our  cities  that  cannot  be  seen 
in  some  one  city.     The  book  is  a  strong  plea." — Chicago  Tribune. 

"Civic  art  is  one  of  the  sanest  and  most  sensible  practical  move- 
ments of  this  day,  and  is  just  now  meeting  with  a  consideration  which 
signifies  a  great  triumphant  movement  for  the  beauty  and  comfort  of 
our  municipalities.  .  .  At  a  time  when  real  beginnings  are  being 
made,  and  a  desire  is  becoming  general  and  emphatic  to  carr>'  this 
city  beautifying  forward,  the  splendid  book  by  Mr.  Robinson  comes 
as  especially  welcome  and  ajipropriate.  It  is  a  most  complete  and 
thorough  work.  We  should  almost  say  that  every  patriotic  citizen 
should  have  this  beautiful  and  helpful  book  in  his  library." — St.  Paul 
Dispatch. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
New  York  London 


The  Call  of  the  City 

By  Charles  Mulford  Robinson 


A  DOZEN  short  and  graceful  essays.  In  these  Mr.  Robinson  has 
•*"^  entered  a  new  field  in  his  picture  of  the  city's  charm.  Inciden- 
tally there  is  revealed  the  city's  own  hold  upon  him — a  fascination 
which  many  feel,  and  a  call  which  the  world  has  heard  and  obeyed 
since  civilization  began.  The  following  are  subject  titles  of  the 
essays:  The  Call  of  the  City,  The  City's  Beauty,  Its  Human  Interest, 
The  City's  Fellowship,  The  City's  Comforts,  The  Charm  of  the 
Past,  Opportunities,  Hope  for  Cities,  When  Phyllis  Is  in  Town, 
Holidays,  Entertainment,  The  City  Sleeps. 

The  book  is  bound  in  brown  weather-finished  antique  boards, 
extra,  with  an  inlay  in  half-tone.  It  contains  a  frontispiece  in 
photogravure  after  a  painting  by  Colin  Campbell  Cooper. 

Net  $1.25  (By  mail,  $1.33) 

"  The  easy  chat  of  a  happy  city-dweller — a  keen-eyed,  warm- 
hearted observer." — Cambridge  {Mass.)  Chronicle. 

"  An  inspiring  book.  Mr.  Robinson  is  one  who  knows  to  the 
core  more  than  one  great  metropolis  and  who  feels  in  his  blood  the 
mighty  throb  and  enthusiasm  of  fellowship  and  of  united  struggle 
for  a  common  end.  To  him  the  city  presents  equal  fascination  with 
the  country,  and  he  writes  with  love-tipped  pen." — Baltitnore  Sun. 

"  A  prose  poem." — Saturday  Review,  New  York  Times. 

"  This  little  volume  of  charmingly  written  essays  is  somewhat  out 
of  the  beaten  path.  Economic  and  political  studies  of  the  city  are 
numerous  in  these  days:  one  is  apt  to  think  that  municipal  life  means 
statistics  and  corruption.  But  Mr.  Robinson  sees  a  deeper  and  more 
interesting  meaning  in  the  city,  and  he  has  set  forth  his  observations 
and  experiences  with  strong  faith  and  broad  sympathy.  ...  In 
his  prose  one  feels  the  true  heart-beat  of  the  city — of  the  life 
which  fascinates  and,  if  rightly  lived,  ennobles  those  who  come  in 
contact  with  it.  .  .  .  The  tone  of  human  sympathy  ;  the  air  of 
quiet  reflection ;  the  beat  of  a  rhythmic  prose,  warm  with  life — these 
qualities  will  make  the  book  welcome  to  readers  looking  for  some- 
thing fresh  and  delightful  in  the  criticisms  of  life." — Philadelphia 
Book  News  Monthly, 


PAUL    ELDER    &    COMPANY 

San  Francisco 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  whicli  it  was  borrowed. 


AA    000  646  305    3 


Un 


^*iJ%^Si!%S5^ 


